Communication

Opening the black box of framing research: The relationship between frames, communication, and outcomes

Disputes, like other social situations, are ambiguous and subject to interpretation. People can encounter the same dispute and perceive it in very different was as a result of their backgrounds, professional training, or past experiences. One label that has been placed on this form of individualized definition of a situation based on interplay of past experiences and knowledge and the existing situation is "frame".

Research o dispute frames has demonstrated two things thus far. First, dispute frames appear to exist. Second, they seem to influence the dispute outcomes and procedures people use to intervene in disputes. However, the question of how these frames affect choice of procedure has been previously left unaddressed. This research focuses on how the adoption of different frames affects the form of the arguments disputants make during the disputing process and the information they gather in trying to make these arguments.

Participants were assigned to conditions and roles randomly upon entering the laboratory. When the participants arrived they were given general instructions and assigned to separate rooms where they were given a copy of the dispute scenario. The conflict revolves around two families, the Bensons, and the Williamsons, who had lived in a housing development for 10 months. Both families are approximately the same age although only one family has children. An apple tree grows between the two houses. A conflict has arisen over this tree and the fruit it bears. Disputants were asked to play the role of either Mr./Mrs. Benson or Williamson.

Participants were given fifteen minutes to read the scenario and prepare to play their role in the dispute. When the 15 minutes had elapsed, each dyad was brought into a room and told that they had 15 minutes to try to reach an agreement. The interaction was recorded for later coding.

The results of this study provide confirmation that communication is integral to understanding the relationship between conflict frames and outcomes of the conflict. Frames are significantly related to communication in fairly predictable ways. Frames and communication are both related to the outcomes of the dispute, both substantive and perceptual. However, the research on conflict frames has