Research on framing is characterized by theoretical and empirical vagueness. This is due, in part, to the lack of a commonly shared theoretical model underlying framing research. Conceptual problems translate into operational problems, limiting the comparability of instruments and results. In this paper I systematize the fragmented approaches to framing in political communication and integrate them into a comprehensive model. I classify previous approaches to framing research along two dimensions: the type of frame examined (media frames vs. audience frames) and the way frames are operationalized (independent variable or dependent variable). I develop a process model of framing, identifying four key processes that should be addressed in future research: frame building, frame setting, individual-level processes of framing, and a feedback loop from audiences to journalists.

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Framing as a theory of media effects

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1994, Vol 39(2), 225. Reviews the book, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion by John Zaller (1992). The author's commendable effort to specify a model of mass opinion formation offers readers an introduction to the prevailing vi

The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion.

Although brand theorists suggest that what a person knows about a company (i.e., corporate associations) can influence perceptions of the company's products, little systematic research on these eff...

/pdf/the-company-and-the-product-corporate-associations-and-r91bhmtqwg.pdf

The Company and the Product: Corporate Associations and Consumer Product Responses:

Climate change 2014 - Synthesis Report

Many people who would benefit from mental health services opt not to pursue them or fail to fully participate once they have begun. One of the reasons for this disconnect is stigma; namely, to avoid the label of mental illness and the harm it brings, people decide not to seek or fully participate in care. Stigma yields 2 kinds of harm that may impede treatment participation: It diminishes self-esteem and robs people of social opportunities. Given the existing literature in this area, recommendations are reviewed for ongoing research that will more comprehensively expand understanding of the stigma-care seeking link. Implications for the development of antistigma programs that might promote care seeking and participation are also reviewed.

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How stigma interferes with mental health care.

public controversy. In the present research, we examine how local television news outlets framed a specific, dramatic event: a demonstration and rally by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in a small Ohio city. We explore the effect of alternative news frames for this event on tolerance for KKK activities. We also test contrasting hypotheses about how viewers psychologically process news frames, and how such frames ultimately affect viewers' thoughts about political controversies.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2952075.pdf

Media Framing of a Civil Liberties Conflict and Its Effect on Tolerance

Framing is the process by which a communication source constructs and defines a social or political issue for its audience. While many observers of political communication and the mass media have discussed framing, few have explicitly described how framing affects public opinion. In this paper we offer a theory of framing effects, with a specific focus on the psychological mechanisms by which framing influences political attitudes. We discuss important conceptual differences between framing and traditional theories of persuasion that focus on belief change. We outline a set of hypotheses about the interaction between framing and audience sophistication, and test these in an experiment. The results support our argument that framing is not merely persuasion, as it is traditionally conceived. We close by reflecting on the various routes by which political communications can influence attitudes.

Toward a Psychology of Framing Effects

Public opinion on government policy is group-centric: that is, strongly influenced by the attitudes citizens possess toward the social groups perceived as the beneficiaries of the policy. Though common-place, this mode of political thinking is not inevitable. In four experiments, we show that group-centrism hinges in part on how issues are framed in public debate. When issues are framed in ways that draw attention to a policy's beneficiaries, group-centrism increases; when issues are framed in ways that deflect attention away from the beneficiaries, group-centrism declines. We conclude by drawing out the implications of these findings for the concept of frame, considered both as a rhetorical weapon in elites' hands and as a cognitive structure in citizens' minds.

Issue Frames and Group-Centrism in American Public Opinion

Students of public opinion have increasingly recognized issue framing as an important influence on political attitudes, but the precise means by which frames affect attitudes is not well understood. We argue that one distinctive way in which frames affect attitudes is by influencing the importance individuals attach to issue-relevant beliefs. We contrast this mechanism with the more familiar means of persuasion via change in belief content. Data come from two laboratory experiments. In each, a controversial issue was framed in one of two ways. We measured framing's influence on belief content, belief importance, and issue opinion. In both experiments, framing significantly affected issue opinion. Causal analysis shows that framing independently affected belief content and belief importance, and that each contributed to issue opinion.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2647553.pdf

Issue Framing Effects on Belief Importance and Opinion

People routinely adjust their subjective judgment standards as they evaluate members of stereotyped social groups Such shifts are less likely to occur, however, when judgments are made on stable, «objective» response scales In 3 studies, subjects judged a series of targets with respect to a number of gender-relevant attributes (eg, height, weight, and income), using either subjective (Likert-type) or objective response scales (eg, inches, pounds, and dollars)

Thomas E. Nelson

Papers

Media Framing of a Civil Liberties Conflict and Its Effect on Tolerance

Toward a Psychology of Framing Effects

Issue Frames and Group-Centrism in American Public Opinion

Issue Framing Effects on Belief Importance and Opinion

Stereotypes and Standards of Judgment