A Peopled Strategy of Frame Reflection

• In Event: 187 - Regular Session. Political Culture

Abstract

In response to the demonstrated power of elite-produced “frames” in shaping people’s opinions, scholars have argued that giving people the opportunity to scrutinize and evaluate the frames underpinning controversial issues should produce more thoughtful opinions. But we know little about the conditions in which people engage in frame reflection. In this paper we report on a series of experiments, focus groups, and interviews designed to probe whether and how people recognize and reflect on frames in written materials about controversial policy issues. Our research shows that people may be able to recognize frames less by thinking of them as disembodied perspectives that anyone can use than as the perspectives of socially-situated actors: businesspeople, environmentalists, conservatives. People treat these worldviews as fixed but as legitimate. This allows them to overcome their tendency to see values in statements as evidence of bias. We draw on scholarship on deliberation and narrative, in conjunction with our empirical research, to make the case for a “peopled” strategy of frame reflection.

Authors

• Francesca Polletta, University of California-Irvine

• Nicole M. Pierski, University of California-Irvine

• Eric P.S. Baumer, Cornell University

• Christopher Celaya, Harvard University

• Geraldine Gay, Cornell University