Framing theory: what it is and how it explains our perception

Framing theory emerges in interpretive sociology and is quickly transferred to cognitive psychology, in conjunction with linguistics. It allows us to understand how we access a version of reality through how information about that reality is presented.

In this article we will see what framing theory is about, what its background is, why it is important for cognitive psychology and how it has had an impact on political sciences and communication.

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What is framing theory?

The framing theory or frame theory (framing theory) uses the metaphor of the “frame” to analyze how mental processes are structured (beliefs, perceptions, common sense) in relation to language, and in turn, how these can be manipulated.

In recent times, framing theory has become a multidisciplinary paradigm. very popular in the social and communication sciences. In particular, he has taken many resources from cognitive linguistics, which has allowed him to study how the public opinion in relation to the information we receive from specific devices such as the mass media communication.

Framing has one of its antecedents in interpretive sociology (which proposes that the interpretation of reality that individuals make occurs during interaction). The term frame was used by Gregory Bateson in an essay on the psychology of perception, where he says that Any information defined as a “frame” is what provides the receiver with elements to understand the messages that are included within that frame. frame.

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Does language function as a frame?

Words allow us to communicate because when we use them, we evoke a specific idea about something (whether we are the senders or the receivers). If we say the word “apple” in a group of Spanish speakers who know apples, we will surely share a mental image very similar to an edible red sphere. Surely if we say “apple”, we would not evoke the image of a pear or a tree.

This is because, within our cognitive system, words fulfill functions similar to those of a “frame”; “framework” being understood as something that sets certain limits; It is an object that selects a specific piece of information from the total amount of information available, and presents only that selection to us. This is how frames allow us to pay attention to something., to the detriment of another.

In other words, just like frames, words frame certain information, and allow us to recognize it, assimilate it, and subsequently share it.

The Framing beyond the issuer

Among other things, framing theory has allowed us to develop some explanations about how we establish communication with each other. That is, how we manage to transmit and receive signals with a certain meaning. And also, What role do our cognitive schemes play in this process?: what ideas or perceptions are evoked from what words.

According to Ardèvol-Abreu (2015), in the communicative context of framing theory, there are four elements that are fundamental to understanding how the information frame is produced. These elements are the sender, the receiver, the text and the culture.

This is because we can place the frame not only in the person who issues the message (the sender) and in whoever sends it. receives (the receiver), but is also located in the information itself and in the culture where it is enroll. For example, the journalistic media, when presenting us with the information that interests us, They frame a reality from the moment in which it is decided what will be and what will not be news.

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Impact and application in Political Sciences

Thus, framing theory refers to the creation of frames of language and meaning, which in turn, helps us generate moral concepts, affirm values, evoke emotions, among other psychological processes that are important for our daily interaction.

More specifically, the creation of these frameworks of language and meaning is visible in how the mass media They present certain information related to political issues, and from this they try to frame our schemes psychological.

American linguist George Lakoff, in one of his most popular works “Don't Think About an Elephant,” he tells us that framing is precisely about choosing the language that fits our vision of the world. But he not only relates to language, but also to the ideas that are evoked and transmitted.

Lakoff develops his work on framing in political theory starting from asking what the political position -for example conservative- has to do with the positions that are assumed with events that seem unrelated (for example abortion, environment, foreign policy), how does that happen? gear? AND... What do the positions themselves have to do with how we understand this mechanism? These questions are those that could be addressed from the proposals of the framing theory.