![]() This trend only holds true for Democrats, not Republicans. In fact, the more educated a person is, the worse their Perception Gap – with one critical exception. Media and the Widening Perception GapĮducation is intended to make us better informed about the world, so we’d expect that the more educated you become, the more you understand what other Americans think. Overall, these findings suggest that media is adding to a polarization ecosystem that is driving Americans apart. Only one media source is associated with better understanding other Americans’ views: the traditional television networks of ABC, NBC and CBS. But large Perception Gaps are also associated with liberal sources such as Huffington Post and the Daily Kos. Some news sources are associated with larger Perception Gaps, in particular Breitbart, Drudge Report and popular talk radio programs such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. We identified how specific news sources are associated with varying levels of distorted understanding in their audiences. Increased Media Consumption and the Perception Gapīut not every media outlet is the same. People who said they read the news “most of the time” were nearly three times more distorted in their perceptions than those who said they read the news “only now and then.” We can’t prove that one causes the other, but these results suggest that rather than making Americans better informed, media coverage is now feeding our misperceptions. We found that the more news people consumed, the larger their Perception Gap. You might think that people who regularly read the news are more informed about their political opponents. ![]() The V-shaped Perception Gap shows that the less invested you are in politics today, the less distorted your perception of politics. They are fully three times more accurate in their estimates of political opponents than members of either of these Wing groups. The two groups with the widest Perception Gaps are the Progressive Activists and the Devoted Conservatives-the most ideological and committed groups of Democrats and Republicans.Īnd which is the most accurate segment? Surprisingly, it’s the Politically Disengaged. It finds that the most partisan, politically active Americans – a group we call the “Wings” – have deeply distorted perceptions of the other side. The Perception Gap study builds on these insights. In one of the largest national studies of America’s polarization ever conducted, More in Common’s Hidden Tribes report identified seven political “tribes”: The Hidden Tribes of America Widest Perception Gap at Political Extremes ![]() So who has the largest Perception Gap? What factors might explain why one person has more distorted perceptions than another? Does this actually make us more hostile to each other, and what can we do about it? These are the questions we sought to answer. The majority of Americans hold views that may not be so different from your own. This is good news for those worried about the character of this country. Even on the most controversial issues in our national debates, Americans are less divided than most of us think. Overall, Democrats and Republicans imagine almost twice as many of their political opponents as reality hold views they consider “extreme”. We call this America’s “Perception Gap ”. The conclusion? Americans have a deeply distorted understanding of each other. We were then able to calculate the difference between the predictions and reality. On issues including climate change, patriotism, sexual assault, police conduct and more, we asked Americans what they themselves believed and what they estimated people on the other side believed. To learn how well Americans understand each other, we partnered with global research firm YouGov to survey 2,100 Americans. We trust each other less, we fear each other more, and we struggle to understand how those on the other side of the political fence could possibly hold so many wrong-headed views.īut with today’s personalized social media feeds and our tendency to live in bubbles of like-minded friends, are we getting each other wrong? As part of its ongoing investigation into the root causes of political polarization, More in Common wanted to find out whether Republicans and Democrats could separate perception from reality. Almost two-thirds of Americans describe themselves as either Democrats or Republicans, and with every passing year each side seems to dislike the other more and more.
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