They presented patients, medical students, and doctors with statistics about the effectiveness of surgery versus radiation therapy in treating cancer.
The participants were given information about effectiveness and survival rates and asked which treatment they would prefer, but framed with two different perspectives. Think about what you would choose as you read the statistics.
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CASE 1: Half the participants were provided the following data:
<> SURGERY: 90 percent of people who have undergone surgery survived the treatment, and 34 percent survived for at least five years afterward
<> RADIATION: 100 percent of people who have undergone radiation therapy survived the treatment, but only 22 percent who were still alive five years later
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CASE 2: The other half were given the same information, but framed in terms of mortality rather than survival. They were provided the following data:
<> SURGERY: 10 percent of people who have undergone surgery died during the surgery, and 66 percent died within five years
<> RADIATION: None of the people who have undergone radiation therapy died during treatment, and 78 percent died within five years
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THE RESULT
You will notice that all patients were given the exact same set of statistics, just framed differently. The result had a remarkable effect on their decisions.
What's more, even doctors with extensive training in these areas were as vulnerable to this framing bias and unable to judge based purely on the numbers.
If merely framing a question can influence a doctor's thought process even within his own domain, what does that mean for the rest of who merely hope to make rational choices?
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Source: The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar
As a senior nurse, I see everyday how hard it is for patients to make a decision about treatment. I also know that when I am under stress, I find it hard to make even basic decisions that are not as important as things like this. I think communication skills are such an important thing to learn and perhaps should be taught more in schools so young adults can develop these skills as I sure know which options I would choose from the statements above.
ReplyDeleteI have always been interested in the power of pre-framing from an NLP perspective. It wasn’t until I read this article, that I realised there are scientific studies to back up and quantify the power of such an implicit skill. It’s great that you’ve provided this study that backs up what is common knowledge amongst most business leaders in terms of the power of pre-framing. It will help others discover this skill.
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