This is fascinating and disturbing: "Americans overestimate the size of minority groups and underestimate the size of most majority groups." Not that I would have done that much better. (Red is the actual proportion.) Happy to learn that actual gun ownership is 32%; I would have guessed closer to the average 54% (though I also remember it being about only 25% not too long ago). But how could people (even in aggregate) think the US population 27% Native American, 27% Muslim, 29% Asian, 30% Jewish, 39% Hispanic, 41% Black, 64% White? Also 70% Christian, 30% gay or lesbian, 21% transgender, 30% New Yorkers and 32% Californians, 36% union members and 40% military veterans?
Friday, March 18, 2022
Skewed perceptions
This is fascinating and disturbing: "Americans overestimate the size of minority groups and underestimate the size of most majority groups." Not that I would have done that much better. (Red is the actual proportion.) Happy to learn that actual gun ownership is 32%; I would have guessed closer to the average 54% (though I also remember it being about only 25% not too long ago). But how could people (even in aggregate) think the US population 27% Native American, 27% Muslim, 29% Asian, 30% Jewish, 39% Hispanic, 41% Black, 64% White? Also 70% Christian, 30% gay or lesbian, 21% transgender, 30% New Yorkers and 32% Californians, 36% union members and 40% military veterans?