Cognitive, Attitudinal, and Emotional Effects of News Frame and Group Cues, on Processing News About Immigration

This study aimed to contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms explaining the so-called framing effect. Experimental research (N = 355) was carried out with a 2 x 2 between-subjects factor design in which the news frame and group cues were manipulated in a news story on the consequences of the increase in immigration in Spain, and their impact on cognitive, attitudinal, and emotional variables was assessed. The results show that the type of news frame stressed in the report exerted significant cognitive, attitudinal, and emotional effects. It was also found that the emotional impact aroused by the news frame was conditioned by the incidental presence of information regarding the national or geographic origin of the immigrants in question. These results are consistent with the hypotheses posed and partially support the argument that the framing effect is a process governed by heuristic processing.