Disentangling Approaches to Framing: Mapping the Terrain

While researchers have demonstrated that frames have profound effects on conflict and negotiation processes and outcomes, the extant research on framing reflects a wide variety of approaches, resulting in conceptual confusion among researchers and practitioners. In this paper we disentangle these approaches by distinguishing them on two dimensions: (1) whether they adopt a cognitive or an interactional view on framing; and (2) whether they focus either on the framing of knowledge, relationships or interaction. We show how approaches differ in their theoretical assumptions and illustrate the different ways in which they deal with data. We conclude that a multi-perspective view rather than an integration view is preferred for valuing the respective contributions of these different approaches. Potential connections between the approaches are explored by focusing on the dynamic and social nature of cognitions and on the way frames in interaction assemble cognitive building blocks.