Framing Effect

The framing effect is a cognitive bias in which a person's decision changes depending on how logically equivalent options or outcomes are presented, or framed, even though the underlying substance of the choice has not changed. Framing outcomes in terms of a gain tends to make people prefer a smaller certain gain over a larger but uncertain one, while framing the same outcomes in terms of a loss tends to make people prefer an uncertain loss over a smaller certain loss, a reversal that prospect theory explains by proposing that losses are felt more strongly than equivalent gains and that people are risk-averse for gains but risk-seeking for losses. A related pattern called valence framing shows that the same underlying position stated negatively, such as declaring opposition to something, tends to produce more resistance to changing that position than the same position stated positively, such as declaring support for something else. The framing effect has been documented across public health, education, politics, law and economics, and its influence tends to shrink when people are given ample credible information to evaluate the choice directly.