Backward Framing and Memory Evaluation in Political Elections

Andrzej Falkowski , Małgorzata Michalak

Abstract

Results of a backward framing study have proven the feasibility of reconstructing memories of knowledge acquired directly or indirectly by experience or by verbal description under the influence of a later-read opinion. Subjects in a study (N = 232) were initially given a description of a politician and then asked to evaluate various aspects of the candidate’s image: program, personality, and physical appearance. A week later, they read a positive or negative opinion of the politician and were asked to recall their earlier evaluations. The obtained result shows that the core structure of a politician’s image is based on his or her election policy, which is congruent with the economical approach to voter behavior. The recalled information of a specific event can actually be successfully manipulated by a following event, which results in subjects being convinced that their changed opinion is actually the opinion they had initially. This proves that backward framing in the constructing of political reality is a tool that can be used for creation of a false image of a politician which is imprinted in the memory of a voter