FRAMING, COGNITIVE MODES, AND IMAGE THEORY - TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF A GLASS HALF FULL

Data from 2 experiments indicate that information framing affects decision episodes in more ways than previous studies showed. Results suggest that framing biases problem-space perceptions and may act as a catalyst for different modes of cognitive processing. Characteristics of controlled cognitive modes were found when information was negatively framed; characteristics of more automatic processing were found when information was positively framed. Results from the 2nd experiment also suggest that the emergence of these cognitive differences could be due to the effect of framing on a decision maker's perception of project images. Positive framing was associated with perceptions of compatibility between current and trajectory project images; negative framing was related to perceptions of greater image incompatibility Implications for theory and practice are discussed.