2015/10/29 by Matthew Levendusky, Matthew S. Levendusky, Neil Malhotra · 365 citations
Chemistry · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Chemistry #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Media Studies and Communication #Neuroscience #Perception #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Political science #Psychology #Social Media and Politics #Social psychology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/poq/nfv045
published in Public Opinion Quarterly 80(S1), 378-391 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 2015/10/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Few topics in public opinion research have attracted as much attention in recent years as partisan polarization in the American mass public. Yet, there has been considerably less investigation into whether people perceive the electorate to be polarized and the patterns of these perceptions. Building on work in social psychology, we argue that Americans perceive more polarization with respect to policy issues than actually exists, a phenomenon known as false polarization. Data from a nationally representative probability sample and a novel estimation strategy to make inferences about false polarization show that people significantly misperceive the public to be more divided along partisan lines than it is in reality. Also, people’s misperceptions of opposing partisans are larger than those about their own party. We discuss the implications of these empirical patterns for American electoral politics.