Moral Framing Research Articles

Framing of Flood News in The Borneo Post, a Regional Malaysian Newspaper

In recent years, climate change and unpredictable weather are causing more frequent severe floods in various areas, but little is understood about how regional newspapers shape public reactions to and preparations for natural disasters. This study investigated the framing of flood news by The Borneo Post, an English-language newspaper circulated in Sarawak, Malaysia. The specific aspects examined were: (a) frequency of thematic and episodic framing of flood events and (b) frame dimensions used in articles. Altogether 76 articles (25,676 words) on floods published by The Borneo Post from 1 January to 31 December 2023 were analysed. All articles were in the episodic frame. The main frame dimension was attribution of responsibility (79%), where authorities act as disseminators and narrators of disaster facts. However, the absence of thematic framing of floods lowers attribution of responsibility to authorities to plan long-term solutions to flooding. The economic consequences frame ranked second (14.5%), emphasising losses suffered. Little attention was given to human interest (3.9%) or conflict (1.3%). There was no morality frame, and 1.3% of articles were fact-filled and did not have an obvious frame dimension. The findings suggest that fact-focused flood reporting lacking the humanity element may not move readers to action.

Moral Comments in Social Media: Analyzing the Role of Ideology-Matching Moral Framing and Impression Motivation in the Persuasive Effect of User Comments on YouTube

ABSTRACT This research explores how users form attitudes when they are presented with online videos and moral comments from their fellow audience. Based on the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) and Moral Foundations Theory (MFT), the study aims to find out how different moral foundations represented in user comments interact with the motivational state, the political orientation, and the moral beliefs of the viewer. In two pre-registered experiments (N = 314 and N = 1015), the inclusion of moral arguments within comments below a YouTube video (harm vs. authority), their valence (positive vs. negative) and the participants’ motivational states (high vs. low impression motivation) were varied. While Experiment 1 revealed no significant effects regarding the persuasive effect of user comments and accompanying moral arguments, Experiment 2 showed a more general effect of comment valence on viewers’ attitude formation. These results help to specify the conditions under which user comments may lead individuals to construct their attitude in a way that fits the perceived majority opinion.

Unraveling the Impact of Moral Framings within Media Coverage to Promote the (De)stigmatization of Depression on Social Media

Media coverage of depression on social media with specific framings could shape people’s perception and attitude, which is significant in reducing the stigma and promoting support for depression sufferers. Adopting the lens of moral foundation theory (MFT), this study aims to explore the effect of inherent moral framings within depression coverage on social media on the stigma and approval attitudes toward depression in audiences’ responses. A large language model and a dictionary-based approach were respectively adopted to score depression-related media coverages (n = 919) and corresponding comments (n = 92,505) collected from the Weibo platform against MFT’s five dimensions and (de)stigma attitudes. The results indicated that care, purity, and fairness framings are prevalent in depression coverage, surpassing moral framings such as betrayal, harm, and cheating. Most responses expressed approval rather than stigma. Moreover, the use of care and loyalty framings can elicit approval responses but decrease audience engagement.

Morality vs. Politics as a Framing Problem: How (Not) to Misunderstand the Fight Against Climate Change

AbstractThis paper is guided by two research hypotheses: (1) In contemporary public discourse, many of the most urgent political problems are predominantly framed and understood in moral terms; (2) this shift in framing has far-reaching consequences, impeding our understanding of the underlying problems and their eventual solution. The two hypotheses are demonstrated using multiple examples, with the fight against climate change serving as the main case study. The moral framing (thinking in terms of individual actions, duties and obligations, blame and personal responsibility) is shown to crowd out political considerations (focused on institutions and policy), even when such moral considerations are either out of place or immaterial. Consequently, individual actions and responsibility are shown to be overemphasized in contemporary public discourse to such an extent that the viable political solutions are often discounted or overlooked.The context of the argument offered here is provided by the realism-moralism debate on the distinction between morality and politics. The ambition of the paper is to show that, regardless of their possible deeper distinction (the “distinctively political normativity”), there is a strong pragmatic case for carefully distinguishing between ethical and political theorizing. Morality and politics provide different frames, distinct interpretive frameworks that consequently give rise to contrasting solutions. Therefore, they need to be kept apart.

Sharing is caring? How moral foundation frames drive the sharing of corrective messages and misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines

Drawing from Moral Foundation Theory, our study explores if and how corrective messages and misinformation related to COVID-19 vaccines utilize moral frames. Unlike studies that either focused on content-analyzing messages or study how audiences react to moral frames, this study incorporated both a content analysis of COVID vaccine messages and modeling of how millions of audiences reacted to such messages. We combined semantic network analysis, text-mining, and machine learning to analyze a large corpus of Facebook posts about COVID-19 vaccines. Our results showed that both corrective messages and misinformation prevalently deployed moral framing. We also found that while corrective messages tend to highlight the virtuous aspect of morality, misinformation focuses on the sinful aspect. In both contexts, the five moral frames could construct logically self-consistent worldviews. Moreover, for corrective messages, fairness, sanctity, care, authority, and loyalty frames all significantly influence users’ message sharing. For misinformation, only the authority/subversion frame was influential.

Analisis Framing Film Tuhan Izinkan Aku Berdosa

The film "Tuhan Izinkan Aku Berdosa" is an interesting work to be analyzed from the perspective of moral and religious framing. Hanung Bramantyo's film adaptation of Muhidin M. Dahlan's novel "Tuhan Izinkan Aku Menjadi Pelacur" offers a complex and controversial framing analysis. In this movie, themes of morality and religion are explored through a complex narrative and deep characters. The moral framing in the movie highlights the complex moral dilemma faced by the main character, who tries to balance between his religious faith and a complicated personal life. Religious framing in this context addresses the way the movie portrays religious teachings, religious practices, and their influence on the character's life. This research uses a descriptive qualitative method. George Lakoff's framing theory and framing theory in media studies provide a foundation for understanding how the selection of visual and narrative viewpoints can influence audience interpretation. The research is based on an in-depth literature study, including analysis of several related journals and books that discuss the role of framing in film. Through this approach, the movie "God Permits Me to Sin" is explained not only as a visual narrative, but also as a work of art that uses framing techniques to explore the psychological and social complexities in the story. .

How the effects of emphasizing ethics are examined: a systematic review of moral framing experiments

ABSTRACT Whether and when moral frames (de)polarize society is a matter of scholarly debate. To identify key research priorities for advancing our understanding of moral framing effects, a systematic review of 114 experiments was conducted. The study explored the use of important theoretical and methodological approaches and compared them between studies belonging to the most salient communication fields in experimental moral framing research. Based on the results, this paper advocates for more attention in moral framing experiments to (a) definitions of the term ‘moral’, (b) differences in frame valence (i.e. moral obligations vs. violations), (c) diverse outcomes that capture distinct types of polarization (i.e. cognitive, affective, perceived), (d) visual and multimodal manipulations, and (e) the choice of non-moral control group(s).

Moral reasoning and support for punitive violence after crime

In contexts marked by high violence and widespread impunity, how do citizens articulate and justify their preferences about crime and punishment? What kind of moral logic and reasoning do they employ when discussing punishments? Does support for punitive punishment derive from moralistic and deontological concerns that perpetrators need to be punished because it is right and proper? Or do people support punitive punishments because they feel they are effective? To address this question, we document and analyze stated preferences for punishment in response to crime from 62 in-depth qualitative interviews with individuals affected by violence in the Mexican state of Michoacán. We conduct a quantitative analysis of how different forms of moral justifications are related to preferred punishments for specific crime events, and a qualitative content analysis to investigate possible mechanisms. We find that two types of moral reasoning are more likely to be used to justify punitive violence: (1) consequentialist reasoning which involves weighing the costs and benefits of an action; (2) and reasoning that dehumanizes accused criminals. Deontological justifications about the right or just action, while extremely common, are used fairly equally across arguments for and against punitive violence. Our study sheds light on the diverse moral frames employed to justify the endorsement of punitive violence.

Moral framing in Ukraine war coverage

Moral framing in Ukraine war coverage

No Peace without Justice, Just War as a Moral Frame of Reference

This article discusses the question of the possibility of moral and ethical grounds for the justification of the use of violence in modern times international conflicts. And specifically, how does the tradition of just war fit into this discussion? For this, a closer look at what just war thinking means is necessary. In this respect we would describe just war thinking more as a just war tradition than a just war theory, as there is no encompassing theory on just war. In history you see a development from the justification of war to a more problematic relation to the possibility of the use of military force. This can be illustrated by the more recent shift from just war thinking towards just peace thinking. This leads to the question: what kind of peace? We argue in this article that peace and justice are connected, and that you cannot have true peace without true justice.

Green and Good? Examining Intended and Unintended Effects of Morally Framed Climate Messages

ABSTRACT Based on Moral Foundations Theory, message framing, and the Sacred Values Protection Model, this pre-registered experiment tested the effects of five different moral frames in climate change messages among N = 715 U.S. adults. Contrary to prior research, we did not find evidence that matching a message’s moral frame to individuals’ endorsements of moral foundations enhances intended positive outcomes, including perceived message effectiveness (PME) and policy support. However, a moral frame mismatch did reduce PME. Also contrary to scholarly warnings about potential negative effects of moralized communication, we did not find evidence for unintended consequences of moral frame matching for outgroup perceptions. Political ideology did moderate the effect of moral framing on desired social proximity (i.e. willingness to interact with moral outgroup members) and perceived message effectiveness. Our findings raise questions about the benefits of using moral frames that invoke only one moral foundation in climate change communication.

Framing the war on Tigray: The case of CNN and Al Jazeera

This paper examined the framing of the war on Tigray on CNN and Al Jazeera from November 4, 2020, to June 28, 2021. Content analysis was used for the data analysis. The results revealed that, while CNN relied on eyewitnesses, including humanitarian workers and local people, Al Jazeera primarily relied on official sources to cover the war. CNN predominantly focussed on crimes against humanity and hunger, whereas Al Jazeera covered crimes against humanity. While CNN focussed on the responsibility and human interest frames, Al Jazeera focussed on the responsibility and morality frames. Both media largely focussed on the responsibility frame, emphasising that perpetrators should be liable for war crimes, crimes against humanity, aggression, and atrocities on civilians in different parts of Tigray, all of which epitomise genocide.

Cui Bono? Cow Slaughter ban and its impact on business and society in India

This research investigates the impact of the cow slaughter ban on different stakeholders in India. The cow is considered a sacred animal in Hinduism, and prohibition of its slaughter prevails in several states in India. India is also a secular state, as its written constitution prescribes. However, the recent ban on cow slaughter in certain states raises several interesting and important ethical questions. We use Aristotle’s Cui Bono moral framing and stakeholder theory to investigate the causes and consequences of the cow slaughter ban on business and society. To this end, our study argues that political and religious affiliations affect stakeholders’ actions and decisions and that they comply with their actions. This has implications for businesses (such as the beef business in India) and society. Based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with key stakeholders such as beef business owners, religious leaders and opposition politicians, our findings indicate that although these stakeholders have their interests, religious and political affiliations play a significant role in shaping such decision-making.

“It’s My Moral Responsibility to Protect Others!” Examining the Effects of Moral Framing and Message Format on Influenza Vaccination Attitude and Intention

ABSTRACT Vaccinations serve a dual purpose: safeguarding the vaccinated individuals while also preventing potential transmission to others. However, the pro-vaccine message has primarily emphasized the personal health risks and harms of not getting vaccinated, while rarely highlighting the moral responsibility of getting vaccinated to protect others. Guided by the Model of Intuitive Morality and Exemplars (MIME) along with the narrative persuasion framework, the current study conducted a 2 (moral framing: vaccination to protect oneself vs. protect others) X 2 (message format: statistical vs. narrative) between-subject online experiment to examine the effects of moral framing and message format on vaccination decision-making. The results revealed that individuals exposed to a pro-vaccine message framing vaccination as a moral responsibility to protect others from harm reported significantly higher levels of perceived moral responsibility and elevation, more positive attitudes toward the flu vaccine, and an increased intention to get vaccinated compared to a pro-vaccine message emphasizing vaccination for self-protection. Counterintuitively, presenting the moral responsibility of receiving the flu vaccine to safeguard others in a statistical format was discovered to be more effective in fostering favorable attitudes toward vaccination and increasing the intention to get vaccinated. This study offers a valuable insight: promoting vaccination as a moral duty could be a promising strategy for motivating individuals to get vaccinated.

Framing of the Belt and Road Initiative by Selected India Online Newspapers

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was launched by China in 2013. The Chinese government perceives this initiative as an economic cooperation effort aimed at addressing obstacles that impede development. The intricacies of the China-India relationship have caused India to perceive the BRI from a distinct perspective. The role of relationship type as an external factor in the frame-building process has been neglected until now. This study aims to determine the influence of China-India relationship types on the five generic frames formulated by Semetko and Valkenburg in 2000. The relationship types include cooperation relationship, competition relationship, and friction relationship. The frames under consideration encompass the responsibility frame, human interest frame, conflict frame, morality frame, and economic consequences frame. The study employs quantitative content analysis as its methodology, utilising this approach to analyse news articles sourced from selected India online newspapers, namely The Times of India, The Hindus, and Hindustan Times. A total of 658 news articles were selected in online newspapers, covering the period from September 2013 to September 2022. This study found that relationship types indeed play a significant role in the frame-building process. Cooperation relationship had a very weak positive correlation with the responsibility frame; the competition relationship had a very weak negative correlation with the responsibility frame and a weak negative correlation with the conflict frame; the friction relationship had a weak positive correlation with the conflict frame. Overall, it can be concluded that the highlighted relationship types do indeed influence the framing of news. Keywords: Media framing, frame building, belt and road initiative, China-India relationships, India online newspapers.

The effect of moral framing on attitudes towards offshore wind farms in Turkey

Public support of renewable energy has become more important as the share of renewable energy increases recently. To avoid public opposition framing strategies can be used. In this study, we aim to reveal the effect of moral framing on support for an intended offshore wind farm (OWF) project in Turkey. We designed a survey with two framing conditions in line with the assertions of Moral Foundations Theory, individualizing and binding, and one control condition. The individualizing condition appeals to the values associated with fairness and well-being. The binding condition appeals to values associated with patriotism, purity and respect for authority, and a control condition lacking any such targeting. We found, prioritizing economic growth, positive expectations from OWFs and willingness to bear personal cost to solve environmental problems positively affect support for OWF, while visual concerns and concerns regarding environment and limited natural resources negatively affect support for OWF. Regarding the framing effect, we found that congruency between political ideology and framing conditions is only significant for individualizing condition. Left-leaning individuals who were exposed to individualizing condition are more likely to support OWFs compared to those of who were exposed to binding and control condition.

Public conversation on vaccines during the covid-19 pandemic in Argentina, 2021-2022

In the face of declining vaccination coverage and the dissemination of health-related information, conversations in the public/mediatic digital sphere constitute a relevant study area for the field of health communication. Through a qualitative study based on the analysis of government publications, digital press, and social media, we characterize the public conversation on vaccines - in terms of topics, moments, axes, and framings in Argentina during the 2020-2021 period - marked by the debate on covid-19 vaccines. The results show that public conversation focused on covid-19 vaccination, structured in two distinct moments (vaccine production and vaccination campaign), and under moral framings grounded in vaccination as a care practice and science as an authoritative voice. Simultaneously, doubts about the safety and efficacy of vaccines shaped arguments of vaccine hesitancy, which we understand as part of extended practices associated with distrust towards institutions and reinterpretations of scientific knowledge and care.

The Cause and Effect of Morality Frame on the Perception of Obesity among 35-55 years University Female Academic Staff in Nairobi County, Kenya

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the cause and effect of morality frame on the perception of obesity among 35-55 years University female academic staff in Nairobi County, Kenya.
 Methodology: This study applied the one-group pretest-posttest experimental design. In the one-group pretest-posttest experimental design all study participants provided with the same treatment and assessment. The researcher, therefore, collected data using the pre-and posttest questionnaires. The treatment applied is Slimpossible television program season six episode one was purposively selected out of seven seasons and ninety-eight episodes covered by the Slimpossible television program. The obese females were qualified through an interview process to participate in the Slimpossible challenge, a popular weight loss television program aired by Citizen Television Network. The justification for choosing the season six-episode one television program was based on assessing the media frames according to Entman (1993), where the scholar mentions the following: human interest, consequences, morality, and responsibility. Although this study is a quasi-experimental research design, the researcher attempted to use randomization to improve the validity of the pretest and posttest experimental study design. Furthermore, out of the randomly selected sample, a purposeful sample was selected for assessment based on a specific interest (Stratton, 2019). The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. This study presented descriptive statistics using tables with frequencies and percentages. Secondly, the research conducted inferential statistics using several types of inferential analysis tools such as the Factor analysis (The Keiser-Meyer –Olkin (KMO) test), Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and regression analysis (logical regression).
 Findings: The results showed that obesity and morality issues are more inclined toward Westernized perception than African perception. The inferential statistics using factor analysis was successful in extracting three independent components of the morality frame. The Keiser-Meyer –Olkin (KMO) test of adequacy (KMO=0.521; Chi-square=4254.5 d.f =66, p=0.000) was significant, implying factor analysis using the principal component method was appropriate. The three components, that is personal moral opinion, morality & Western media, and morality & African media cumulatively explain 71.3 % of the total variability.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: This study emanated from the media framing theory, where it provided morality frame as one among five frames, mentioned by an American political scientist known as Robert Entman in 1993. Its contribution to practice, based on the findings, the respondents expressed that obesity is not subjected to moral decay/decline because their perspective was that obese females are healthy, beautiful and good people. The respondents felt that Africa faces more challenges with hunger and famine compared to obesity issues. The study recommends the involvement of academicians and health scientists to explore through research ‘why’ obesity is not a moral issue in tackling obesity. They could conduct visibility studies and experiments and publish them in peer-reviewed journals for access.

“Outstanding”: early Schwarze and the seeds of melodrama

ABSTRACT In this essay, I reflect on how ideas and commitments that defined Steve Schwarze’s early engagements with rhetorical studies shaped his later work on environmental melodrama. Steve and I met as teenagers when we were both undergraduates at Drake University, studying with Robert Hariman, who encouraged his students to publish our own journal, Diatribe. Steve’s writings in that journal are astonishingly prescient and presage the later emphasis in his work on kairos, moral framings, feelings as a legitimate part of public discourse, and the need for self-reflexivity about the scholarly enterprise. I consider the impact of Steve’s work on my own thinking with an exploration of how his insights about melodrama illuminate the rhetorical force of the youth climate movement.

Weaving webs of well-being: The ethics of navigating religious differences in Christian foster families with foster children of various backgrounds

This article analyzes ethical issues arising in transreligious foster care placements in relation to foster children’s needs regarding religious socialization and identification. Applying Urban Walker’s expressive-collaborative framework to 30 qualitative interviews with foster parents, foster children, parents, and professionals, we elaborate and apply a three-level reflection on Christian foster parents’ ethics of care in everyday practice of foster care. A first-level reflection demonstrates that integrating the foster child in the foster family often leads to predominant Christian socialization of foster children. A second-level reflection demonstrates asymmetry between foster parents and birth parents in the religious socialization of foster children, leading to confusion for the foster child and (potential) conflict with birth parents. Finally, a normative reflection leads us to conclude that foster children in transreligious placements need loose and hybrid moral frames in which they can alter, shift, and navigate their multiple identifications and partialities as part of their development.