Influence At WorkIntroduction
Why Influence?
Everyday
Modern
Definitions
Ethics I
Ethics II
Disciplines
Approach
Bad Info
Structure
Mindfulness
Mindlessness
6 Principles
Matrix
Cults I
Cults II
Cults III
Framing I
Framing II
Framing III
Framing IV
Framing V
Framing VI
Framing VII
Framing VIII
Bibliography
Links


The Frame: An Introduction

As mentioned earlier, the scientific study of influence is endowed with a wealth of verifiable facts, phenomena, and reliable effects. One of the difficulties in writing about influence is that different phenomena occupy different amounts of "space" in the geography of social influence. For instance, on the Mindful & Mindless page, I discussed just one of many variables that is currently rearranging the way we view persuasion. Despite its importance, I devoted only a few pages to the concept--one of the limitations of an overview as provided by this web site. 

The next topic, Framing, has been only lightly researched--yet it occupies considerably more space at this web site. Why? To answer, consider the following analogy:

Imagine that you visit Arizona, and we go to the desert and walk out under the stunning Arizona night sky. As we look up at the uncountable number of stars, we see a particularly bright grouping of them. You ask what that grouping is, and I tell you it's the constellation Scorpio. It's a beautiful asterism, easily observable by eye alone. Then I tell you there's something really interesting I'd like to show you--a star cluster in the constellation Hercules. It can't be seen by the unaided eye, so out comes the telescope--and you are soon enjoying a view of an amazing cluster of stars. One asterism was large and obvious, the other much smaller but equally beautiful. To get an appreciation of the night sky, it must be explored on both a macro and micro scale.

The same holds true for social influence. We've explored a large topic, mindfulness & mindlessness, by eye. Now it's time to unpack the telescope and zoom in on a single psychological phenomenon. 

I can't stress enough that this website (large as it is!) is only a tiny taste of what's out there to be known about influence. Our next topic, Framing, is only one of thousands of phenomena we can examine within the social influence canon.