We normally think of words as a tool for describing the world around us. A helpful shorthand or label for expressing meaning. But words have power. The way we describe things affects how we see them. But worse still, words, by directing attention, can act as off-switches for the mind, limiting a broader understanding of a situation, argues Nick Enfield.

How I see an image is a private matter. But how I label it is an imposition upon others. Think about this when you are next in an art gallery. The plaque next to each exhibit contains words that constrain how you view the exhibit. Inversions and reversals are familiar from the abstract imagery of Gestalt Psychology. We all know the trophy-faces image: 

If the above image were labelled “Faces”, this wouldn’t mean that the trophy can’t be seen. But it would mean that somebody with authority—the artist, in this case—has claimed one of the available construals as the correct one.

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Even when you have no interest in misleading people, as with the trophy-faces image, you have no choice but to pick one way of seeing things at a time.

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This is linguistic framing. It is one of the things that language is especially good for. Framing is not just a different way of viewing a scene. It is an act of influence. It uses language to direct people to see things in one way as opposed to the other ways they might have seen them. This tends to shut off our awareness of those other ways of seeing. Framing can be used intentionally to distract from other available frames. But even when you have no interest in misleading people, as with the trophy-faces image, you have no choice but to pick one way of seeing things at a time.

Framing can reveal our moral evaluation of a situation. If I say Kim is thrifty, I’m saying two things: (1) she doesn’t spend much money and (2) that’s a good thing. An alternative framing would be that she is stingy. This would also describe a person who doesn’t spend much money but the framing is negative.

Framing’s special power is to direct our attention. It is hard to imagine a more important way of manipulating people. I only have to look and point my finger in a certain direction and you will be unable to resist looking to see what’s there. That’s when I pick your pocket. As magicians, marketing gurus, and schoolmasters have long known, controlling people’s attention is key to influencing them.

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Consider this example: I’m not his daughter, he’s my father. Two descriptions of a situation are both true: (1) I’m his daughter, (2) He’s my father. But we can understand what the speaker is doing when she insists on one version. She wants the father defined in relation to her. The framing makes a claim that people should know who she is before they know who the father is.

Alternative framings are not a superficial matter of emphasis or style. Framing affects how we understand and reason. A study of blame, by Caitlin Fausey and Lera Boroditsky, presented people with a vignette about a diner in a restaurant who accidently starts a fire by snagging the tablecloth and toppling a candle. When the text frames the diner in subject position (She toppled the candle; as opposed to The candle toppled), this affects the degree to which people judge her as responsible and accountable for the damage.

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“Alternative descriptions of a decision problem often give rise to different preferences.”

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Another experimental study, by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, asked people to choose between two programs to combat a disease outbreak which is expected to kill 600 people.

a. If Program A is adopted, 200 people will be saved

b. If Program B is adopted, there is 1/3 probability that 600 people will be saved, and 2/3 probability that no people will be saved

The experiment found that people are firmly risk averse. Nearly three quarters of people choose Program A, opting for certainty (while tolerating a known cost). But certainty versus risk is not the only factor. Look at the language of Program A. The outcome of Program A is framed in terms of how many people will be saved. An alternative framing involves a simple change of wording, from will be saved to will die, a marked reversal

c. If Program C is adopted, 400 people will die

d. If Program D is adopted, there is 1/3 probability that nobody will die, and 2/3 probability that 600 people will die

When people saw the problem framed like this, their reasoning changed dramatically. The earlier effect was reversed. This time, more than three quarters of participants chose Program D, opting against ‘certain death of 400 people’, even though this is exactly what people opted for when it was framed as ‘certainly saving 200 people’ (Program A).

The effect is due entirely to a choice of words. Programs A and C are worded differently but they are informationally identical. As the authors conclude: “Alternative descriptions of a decision problem often give rise to different preferences.”

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You might be thinking that this doesn’t apply to you because you aren’t usually in a position to decide on alternative government programs during a pandemic. Well, you do vote. You are a rational agent and consumer. And you make decisions all day. Every news article, opinion piece, or advertisement, every comment or conversation, is a minefield of framings. No question is neutral.

Imagine that a hate group is planning to hold a political rally. A question: Would you favour it or oppose it? A political science study by Paul Sniderman and Sean Theriault compared people’s responses when the question was prefaced by framings that drew attention to different considerations. When the question was prefaced with Given the importance of free speech, 85% of people said they would allow the hate group rally. When prefaced with Given the risk of violence, only 45% of people agreed.

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When your attention is directed toward something, there is a corollary you should never forget. It is that your attention is directed away from everything else.

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Framing won’t make you believe things you don’t already believe. But our beliefs are many and varied, and can be contradictory. I believe that free speech is good and that violence is bad, but when presented with the hate speech rally scenario, these two beliefs may be played off against one another. The trick is this. For our beliefs to guide our decision-making, they need to be active just when it matters. And here is where framing works its magic. It is a tool for making certain information prominent and relevant at a key moment: just when you are about to cast a vote, purchase a product, choose a course of action.

When your attention is directed toward something, there is a corollary you should never forget. It is that your attention is directed away from everything else. Yes, all these words are giving you information. But the more you are satisfied with the way words describe what you see, the more they create a thought-terminating sense of clarity and comfort. By directing your attention, words are also off-switches for the mind.