The liberal illusion of uniqueness
Abstract
In two studies, we demonstrated that liberals underestimate their similarity to other liberals (i.e., display truly false uniqueness), whereas moderates and conservatives overestimate their similarity to other moderates and conservatives (i.e., display truly false consensus; Studies 1 and 2). We further demonstrated that a fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives in the motivation to feel unique explains this ideological distinction in the accuracy of estimating similarity (Study 2). Implications of the accuracy of consensus estimates for mobilizing liberal and conservative political movements are discussed.
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By challenging official narratives, conspiracy theories can undermine people's trust in broader societal structures, leading to alienation and anomie, which is linked to non-normative political activism.
“by challenging official narratives conspiracy theories can actually undermine people's trust in broader societal structures [cf.56] leading to alienation and anomie [10-12, 57, 58] which in turn is linked to non-normative political activism [17**,18].”
From The dark side of social movements: social identity, non-conformity, and the lure of conspiracy theories (2020) · cites this paper as [56]
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- Authors
- Stern, C., West, T. V., & Schmitt, P. G.
- Affiliations
- New York University (US)
- ORCID
- Stern, Chadly
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2013-11-18
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 137-144
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2122288715
- Cited by
- 98
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 52.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Academic Freedom and Politics
- Keywords
- false consensus effect, political ideology, liberals, conservatives, moderates, perceived similarity, self-perception, political mobilization, political movements
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Politics, Self Concept, Social Perception, Consensus, Young Adult
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