Framing is the way an issue is posed or described. The same underlying facts, presented in different frames, can lead to systematically different decisions and judgments.

A classic demonstration offers a choice between two programs for combating a disease. When the outcomes are framed in terms of lives saved, people prefer the certain option; when the identical outcomes are framed in terms of lives lost, people prefer the risky option. The numbers have not changed—only the description. Similar effects appear in medical decisions, financial choices, and public-policy preferences. Positive frames (“90 percent fat-free”) are evaluated more favorably than equivalent negative frames (“10 percent fat”).

Framing effects reveal that preferences are not simply read off from objective values. They are constructed in the moment, influenced by the reference points and emotional tones that the frame supplies. Awareness of framing can improve decision quality, yet the effects are robust even among experts.

How a question is asked often shapes the answer more than the facts alone would predict.