A common assumption is that the other side is the one being led by the nose. Our tests can check it, because they ask key positions twice, once in a sympathetic frame and once in a critical one, and measure how far each answer moves. Across 3,896 people with a clear economic lean, the answer is that neither side is more easily moved. At the same strength of view, left and right score within 1.5 points of each other on a 0 to 100 scale.
Positions here use the two compass axes, each running from -100 to +100. We count someone as leaning left or right if their economic score is more than 33 points from the centre, and the same for the social axis, where the two sides are libertarian and authority. Everyone within 33 points of the middle is in the centre group.
Show the data
| Group | People | Average framing bias | Average distance from centre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Left (economic axis) | 2,346 | 20.2 | 58 |
| Centre (economic axis) | 4,578 | 26.5 | 15 |
| Right (economic axis) | 1,550 | 21.0 | 55 |
| Libertarian (social axis) | 1,615 | 19.3 | 54 |
| Centre (social axis) | 4,391 | 26.9 | 15 |
| Authority (social axis) | 2,468 | 21.1 | 56 |
Comparing like with like
The broad groups hide something. People with firm views are, almost by definition, the ones whose answers point the same way however a question is worded. So the further someone sits from the centre, the lower their framing bias tends to be, and our data shows exactly that on both sides. If one side had more people with strong views, it would look less swayable for that reason alone.
To rule that out, we compare left and right at the same distance from the centre.
Show the data
| Distance from centre | Left | Right | Gap (Right minus Left) | 95% interval of gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 to 49 | 23.6 (914) | 23.7 (693) | +0.1 | -1.5 to 1.6 |
| 50 to 74 | 19.7 (984) | 19.9 (623) | +0.2 | -1.2 to 1.6 |
| 75 to 100 | 14.2 (448) | 15.7 (234) | +1.5 | -1.1 to 4.1 |
The dots sit almost on top of each other. In every band the gap between left and right is small, and its 95% interval includes zero, so we cannot tell the two sides apart. What predicts framing bias is how firmly someone holds their views, not which side they hold them on.
The social axis is a little different
On the social axis, which runs from libertarian to authority, a small but steady gap does appear. At every strength of view, people on the authority side score about 2.3 points higher than people equally far toward the libertarian side, and each of those gaps has an interval above zero.
Show the data
| Distance from centre | Libertarian | Authority | Gap (Authority minus Libertarian) | 95% interval of gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 to 49 | 22.5 (743) | 24.6 (1,079) | +2.1 | 0.8 to 3.4 |
| 50 to 74 | 17.9 (695) | 20.4 (1,031) | +2.4 | 1.2 to 3.7 |
| 75 to 100 | 10.6 (177) | 12.9 (358) | +2.3 | 0.2 to 4.4 |
We would not read too much into it. The gap is about a tenth of the typical spread of scores, and it could come from the questions rather than the people. Social-axis questions cover topics like crime, immigration and tradition, and if their sympathetic and critical versions are slightly less balanced on one side than the other, the scores would show a gap like this. It is something we will keep checking as the data grows and as test wording is revised.
Why the centre scores highest
The centre group averages 26.5 on the economic axis, well above both sides. Part of that is how the measurement works. Someone who agrees with both the sympathetic and the critical version of a question lands in the middle on that topic, because the two answers cancel out. That same pattern is what the framing bias score counts. So a central position and a high score partly go together by construction.
That does not make centrists careless. Plenty of people in the middle hold carefully balanced views and score low. But a score in the centre can mean two different things, and the framing bias number is what tells them apart.
What it means
Susceptibility to wording is not a partisan trait. People on the left and the right are moved by framing to the same degree when their views are equally firm. If you want to know how much a question's wording might have moved your own answers, the useful comparison is not with the other side. It is with the version of the question you did not see.
See where you land and how much wording moves you: take the test.
About these figures
- Based on 8,474 results across all tests. Broad groups are shown only with at least 100 people, and each side within a distance band with at least 50.
- Intervals are 95% intervals. A gap whose interval includes zero is one we cannot distinguish from chance.
- Each country test places people against its own country's debate, so "left" means left within that test. The comparison between sides holds within every test mix, but the positions are not identical across countries.
- This is a self-selected online sample and is not weighted to any population. Full detail is on the methodology page.