The Perception Gap: How False Impressions are Pulling Americans Apart

Yudkin, Daniel Alexander; Hawkins, Stephen; Dixon, Tim

doi:10.31234/osf.io/r3h5q

PreprintCited by 64Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationSocial and Intergroup PsychologyMisinformation and Its Impacts

The Perception Gap: How False Impressions are Pulling Americans Apart

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Yudkin, Daniel Alexander, Hawkins, Stephen, Dixon, Tim·2019

DOI 10.31234/osf.io/r3h5q

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Abstract

This report shows the various ways Americans misperceive the views of their political opponents.

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The perception gap was 27 points.
“Conversely, the perception gap was somewhat higher (27 points) (Yudkin et al., 2019).”
From ¿Demasiado lejos? Cómo la polarización mal percibida alimenta la polarización afectiva en España (2025) · cites this paper as Yudkin et al., 2019
The true percentage of Republicans holding extreme views was 19 points lower than the estimate for the Democrats.
“In 2019, a report published by More in Common reinforced the findings of Levendusky and Malhotra (2016) by detecting that the true percentage of Republicans holding extreme views was 19 points lower than the estimate for the Democrats.”
From ¿Demasiado lejos? Cómo la polarización mal percibida alimenta la polarización afectiva en España (2025) · cites this paper as Yudkin et al., 2019

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Authors: Yudkin, D. A., Hawkins, S., & Dixon, T.
ORCID: Yudkin, Daniel Alexander
Dixon, Tim
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Published: 2019-09-14
DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/r3h5q
OpenAlex: W3161743162
Cited by: 64
References: 18
Citations by year: 2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 18
Type: posted content
Language: en
Open access: green
doi.org
Licence: cc-by
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode (unspecified)
Locations: PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics: Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
Keywords: political misperceptions, political polarization, political opponents, public opinion

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The Perception Gap: How False Impressions are Pulling Americans Apart

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