Lecheler, Schuck, & de Vreese (2013). Dealing with feelings: Positive and negative discrete emotions as mediators of news framing effects. - Article summary

Emotions are a powerful force within the political communication process. Emotions are integral components of news frames and exposure to news framing can cause an individual to have specific emotional reactions. Some frames can cause a stronger emotional response than others.

News frames are patterns of interpretation that are used to classify information sensibly and process it efficiently. It stresses certain aspects of reality (i.e. a selective function). It suggests certain attributes, judgements and decisions. Equivalency frames refer to logically alike content which is presented or phrased differently. Emphasis frames refer to qualitatively different yet potentially relevant considerations. Issue-specific frames refer to frames regarding a specific topic. Generic news frames refer to frames regarding a wide variety of topics.

Emotions refer to internal mental states representing evaluative reactions to events, agents or objects that vary in intensity. They are generally short-lived, intense and directed at external stimuli.

The appraisal theory states that the development of an emotional state depends on individual and subjective evaluations of that event. This means that a cognitive appraisal of a specific event precedes emotional response to a news frame.

Discrete negative emotions (e.g. anxiety; anger) affect political attitudes and behaviour negatively. Explicitly positive emotions (e.g. enthusiasm, hope) affect political attitudes and participation positively. Message-induced anger leads to more attention and more careful information processing. Message-induced fear leads to a low willingness to process information.

Enthusiasm is related to mobilizing action tendencies and deep-information processing. Contentment is associated with immobility and the failure to process a message. Positive news framing contributes to higher levels of support for the political issue at stake. Enthusiasm is a mediator of news framing on political opinion. Anger is a mediator of news framing on political opinion. Only anger and enthusiasm affect opinions while anger, enthusiasm, fear and contentment are affected by news framing.

News frames cause emotional responses which led to higher or lower support for a political issue. Anger and enthusiasm mediate the framing effect. Frame strength depends on whether a frame causes emotional reactions and which emotional response this frame triggers.