The Mediating Role of Emotions in the Relationship between Frames and Attribution of Responsibility for Health Problems

Abstract

This experiment explored the effects of thematic and episodic and gain and loss frames on emotional responses and attribution of responsibility. Also, it analyzed whether or not emotions mediate the effect of frames on attribution of responsibility. Participants were randomly assigned to read stories about obesity and lung cancer that employed thematic/loss, thematic/gain, episodic/loss, or episodic/gain frames. The relationship between gain frames and social attribution of responsibility was mediated by guilt. Thematic, episodic, loss, and gain frames elicited significant emotional responses when used in stories about lung cancer and obesity.