Scientific Definition
The same information lands differently depending on how it's wrapped.
Plain-English Definition
The same information lands differently depending on how it's wrapped.
Feynman Explanation
'90% survival' and '10% mortality' are the same number, never the same decision.
Core Principle
The same information lands differently depending on how it's wrapped.
Mechanisms
The same information lands differently depending on how it's wrapped.
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
'90% survival' and '10% mortality' are the same number, never the same decision.
Examples
- Layoffs reframed as 'right-sizing' meet less resistance than the same headcount cut.
- Decks engineer outcomes by engineering frames.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
- Re-state every choice in at least two opposing frames before deciding.
Measurement Approaches
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Evidence
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The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Re-state every choice in at least two opposing frames before deciding.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Adding a clearly worse option steers people toward the option you wanted.
Whatever is pre-selected wins more often than it should.
We value things more once they're ours.
We overvalue things we built ourselves.
Doing something feels safer than doing nothing — even when nothing wins.
Feelings act as shortcuts for facts.
Over-reliance on the first number that hits the table.
We disproportionately prefer rewards now over rewards later.
Believing more information leads to better decisions, regardless of relevance.
When trivial metrics become the target, the trivial becomes the strategy.
Losses hurt roughly twice as much as equivalent gains feel good.
We treat money differently depending on which bucket it's in.