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# The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice

## Details

**Authors** Tversky and Kahneman

**Year** 1981

**Publisher** Science

**Discipline** Cognitive Science

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7455683) 
10.1126/science.7455683

## In authors' words

### Abstract

The psychological principles that govern the perception of decision problems and the evaluation of probabilities and outcomes produce predictable shifts of preference when the same problem is framed in different ways. Reversals of preference are demonstrated in choices regarding monetary outcomes, both hypothetical and real, and in questions pertaining to the loss of human lives. The effects of frames on preferences are compared to the effects of perspectives on perceptual appearance. The dependence of preferences on the formulation of decision problems is a significant concern for the theory of rational choice.

### What they set out to do (purpose)

To study the psychology of choice and its relation to the framing of decisions.

### What they found (results)

They found that subjects bounced between finding one option better over the other, depending on how the choice was framed. They offer that the appeal of certain options is correlated with the frame itself. Such that changing the frame, can change the attractiveness of options, and therefore the decision made and actions taken. This is also the case with choice-making. Normally, discovering that your previous mental model is incorrect, the decision-maker could reconsider the framing and assumptions that were initially put in place, knowing that there is no true way to get a correct mental model.

## Commentary

### In short

The underlying subjectivity of how things are framed necessitates an understanding (and awareness) of the root perspective from which it originated.

### In more detail

Often perspective is seen as synonymous with how things are framed. In other words, how things are framed (a problem, issue or situation) is rooted in a perspective. Notably, the way things are framed often shapes the action’s one takes, or decisions made. Tversky and Kahneman (1981) studied the psychology of choice and its relation to the framing of decisions. They looked at the difference between the dependence on frames and the dependence of perceptual appearance on Perspective in general. They found that subjects bounced between finding one option better over the other, depending on how the choice was framed. A metaphor was used in the discussion, “If while traveling in a mountain range you notice that the apparent relative height of mountain peaks varies with your vantage point, you will conclude that some impressions of relative height must be erroneous, even when you have no access to the correct answer.” They offer that the appeal of certain options is correlated with the frame itself. Such that changing the frame, can change the attractiveness of options, and therefore the decision made and actions taken. This is also the case with choice-making. Normally, discovering that your previous mental model is incorrect, the decision-maker could reconsider the framing and assumptions that were initially put in place, knowing that there is no true way to get a correct mental model. The underlying subjectivity of how things are framed necessitates an understanding (and awareness) of the root perspective from which it originated.

**Patterns it shows** P

**How to cite this** Tversky and Kahneman (1981). The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice. Science.