Challenges to correcting pluralistic ignorance

False Consensus Effects, Competing Information Environments, and Anticipated Social Conflict

Bibliographic Data

ID2236473
AuthorsGraham Dixon (0000-0001-7810-940X, The Ohio State University, corresponding author), Graham N Dixon (The Ohio State University), Blue Lerner (0000-0001-5535-2132, The Ohio State University), Samuel Bashian (0009-0009-6046-3510, The Ohio State University)
Year2024
Volume50
Issue3
Pages419-429
Publication date2024-06-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Communication Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0360-3989 • E-ISSN: 1468-2958
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/hcr/hqae001
OpenAlexW4391432168
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited36

For many policy issues, people holding the majority opinion often do not act in accordance with their beliefs. While underestimating public opinion appears as a likely cause, correcting this misperception often fails to motivate those in the majority to act. Investigating further, we surveyed a nationally representative sample (N = 1,000) of Republican voters about vaccination. Despite a majority supporting vaccines, Republicans on average underestimated other Republicans' support. However, this misperception occurred primarily among anti-vaccine Republicans-a group that reported a greater willingness to share their vaccine views. We show how an information environment overrepresented with minority views may discourage majority view holders from speaking out even when they are aware of their majority status. That is, instead of experiencing pluralistic ignorance, those in the majority may be discouraged from expressing their views due to anticipated social conflict from engaging in an information environment disproportionately made up of minority views

Cognition · Consensus theory · Epistemology · Ignorance · Political science · Social change · Social conflict · Social information processing · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence · Psychology · Social Psychology

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