You Win Some, You Lose Some: How Demographic Factors Interact with the Ubiquity of the Framing Effect

Abstract

The current literature review is a compilation of research that addresses the ubiquity of the framing effect and presents examples of demographic features that hinder or facilitate the susceptibility to it. The framing effect, which was initially empirically studied through the exploration of gain vs. loss frames (Tversky & Kahneman, 1981), is a phenomenon in which discrepancies in the phrasing of the same content can elicit significantly different responses. A variety of frames, contexts, and demographics are discussed to reveal examples where the framing effect is present. Although our susceptibility to the framing effect emerges from underlying cognitive processes, the purpose of the current literature review is to promote awareness of the framing effect by explaining how it is utilized so that we can consciously decrease our susceptibility to our own cognitive biases.