The same risk, two wordings

Framing changes a choice without changing the facts. Ninety percent survival and ten percent mortality are the same operation. A rise from four percent to five percent is both one percentage point and a relative rise of twenty-five percent. Both descriptions can be true. The fault is letting one wording do the deciding while the other is hidden. Write both forms side by side before you choose. If the preference disappears when the second form is visible, the preference was about the sentence, not about the risk.

Cognitive bias

Framing

Framing changes a decision by changing the wording of the same facts. “90% survival” and “10% mortality” describe one risk. People often treat them as different risks because one wording highlights the gain and the other the loss.

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Mini check

The same operation is described to one group as "90% survival" and to another as "10% mortality." The first group is more willing to choose it. What is this effect?

Framing: the same risk feels different because of how it is worded.A real change in the chance of dying, not just in the wording.A hasty leap from one patient's story to every other patient.Circular reasoning, with the conclusion already built into the start.

Unemployment goes from 4% to 5%. One report says it rose "25%"; another says it rose "one percentage point". Which is right?

Both: 25% is the relative rise, one point is the absolute rise.Only the 25% report, because percentages are always relative.Only the one-point report, because the 25% is invented.Neither, because you cannot compare two percentages.

Try it today

Rewrite one percentage you see today as both a relative change and an absolute one.

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