Framing the same policy goal differently shifts public support by nine points

Evidence

Not surprisingly, a large majority of our sample of Stanford undergraduates indicated support for the ERA (74%). However, this support was greater when the problem was framed in terms of eliminating discrimination (78%) than in terms of improving women’s rights (69%). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2456

Categorization

• XREF: Classic framing effect research; connects to Kahneman and Tversky’s prospect theory and the larger loss-framing literature. — connects to: Framing an issue as ending loss gains more support than as gaining benefit. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 2454; The same ballot measure can be summarized in rival framing accounts — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 3367