Framing and semantics

Researchers continue to study the process known as "framing" and their results have interesting implications for language. This post on BPS RESEARCH DIGEST, titled "How framing affects our thought processes", describes a set of studies evaluating reactions to the words "tax" and "offset" by participants making decisions between two products. Left-leaning participants did not appear to respond differently to the two words, while right-leaning participants were much less likely to choose a more expensive "green" option if the price difference was labeled "tax" instead of "offset."

The study also showed that, since we tend to favor what we consider first in a one-on-one comparison task, the order in which participants considered the two options was strongly influenced by the different labels. Republican respondents tended to evaluate the lower-priced item longer when the price difference was labeled a "tax", and in some cases, failed to consider the higher-priced item first even when instructed to.

The statistically significant difference would suggest that how we say things can affect not only a direct reaction to our words, but also the underlying evaluation process of our overall message. The researchers, David Hardisty and Weber, concluded:

What might seem like a trivial semantic difference to one person can have a large impact on someone else.

I wonder if we will ever come to a day when people don't automatically dismiss "semantic differences" as "trivial".