Assessing the Breadth of Framing Effects

32 Pages Posted: 5 Nov 2016

See all articles by Daniel J. Hopkins

Daniel J. Hopkins

University of Pennsylvania

Jonathan Mummolo

Stanford University, Department of Political Science

Date Written: November 1, 2016

Abstract

Issue frames are a central concept in studying public opinion, and are thought to operate by foregrounding related considerations in citizens' minds. But scholarship has yet to consider the breadth of framing effects by testing whether frames influence attitudes beyond the specific issue they highlight. For example, does a discussion of terrorism affect opinions on proximate issues like crime or even more remote issues like poverty? By measuring the breadth of framing effects, we can assess the extent to which citizens' political considerations are cognitively organized by issues. We undertake a population-based survey experiment with 3,318 respondents which includes frames related to terrorism, crime, health care, and government spending. The results demonstrate that framing effects are narrow, with limited but discernible spillover on proximate, structurally similar issues. Discrete issues not only organize elite politics but also exist in voters' minds, a finding with implications for studying ideology as well as framing.

Keywords: framing effects, survey experiments, public opinion, ideology

JEL Classification: C99, D70, D72

Suggested Citation

Hopkins, Daniel J. and Mummolo, Jonathan, Assessing the Breadth of Framing Effects (November 1, 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2863930 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2863930

Daniel J. Hopkins (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania ( email )

Stiteler Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.danhopkins.org

Jonathan Mummolo

Stanford University, Department of Political Science ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

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