We’re Not That Different: Fighting Division with Truth
I think we can all agree that politics can have a polarizing effect on much of our life. The presidential races of 2016, 2020, and 2024 exemplified this as much as anything in my lifetime has. I’ve been surprised at the people I know who have been triggered into outrage over the declaration or support of a position on an issue. You probably hold some strong opinions on some things, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You probably also have some degree of opinion on opposing positions. What if much of the outrage is built on misunderstandings? (Spoiler alert – much of it is.) People often hold inaccurate beliefs about what “the other side” really thinks. It’s called the Perception Gap, and that’s what we’re exploring today.
The Perception Gap: What We Think Others Believe
First, let me introduce you to More in Common. More in Common is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to understanding and addressing the factors that drive societies apart. The organization’s mission is to build more united, inclusive, and resilient societies through research into fragmentation and polarization. A recent project with the title “The Perception Gap” explored and documented how political partisans perceived each others’ beliefs, and, more significantly, the extent of inaccuracy in those perceptions. The results were interesting, and the subsequent iterations of the study were even moreso. However, the key takeaway from the study is that the more politically engaged a person is, the more inaccurate their views of the other side become. Let that sink in.
For example in 2019, self-identified Republicans (I’m just going to say “Republicans” for the rest of the article) estimated that 46% of Democrats supported “abolishing ICE,” but the real number was 25%. Self-identified Democrats (same with Democrats, dropping the “self-identified for the rest of the article) believed that 49% of Republicans disagreed with legal immigration, when the real number was 15%.
In the years between then and now, there have been some changes. The 2024 study found that Democrats’ perception gaps regarding Republicans’ views widened, and Republicans’ perception gaps regarding Democrats’ views narrowed. In other words, Democrats were wrong more often about what Republicans believed in 2024 than they were in 2019, and Republicans were more accurate in 2024 about what Democrats believed than they were in 2019.
There seem to be a few driving factors that influence the magnitude of the perception gap. One, as I cited above, is the level of political engagement. The more often and more vehemently you engage in political discussion, for example, the more likely you are to entertain misperceptions of opposing viewpoints. Another factor is the type and amount of media consumption. Consuming highly partisan news and talk radio and talk shows tends to reinforce existing biases and can contribute to greater misunderstandings of the other side’s beliefs.
A third factor was one I found surprising. Higher education among Democrats presented a wider perception gap, but the study didn’t find that to be true among Republicans. Democrats with postgraduate degrees were three times more inaccurate in perceptions than people without a high school diploma.
Media and Echo Chambers Amplify the Divide
I had long suspected that media and social media played a big role in these misperceptions, and it turns out I was right. The study confirmed that both are major culprits. (Yes, I feel vindicated.)
Imagine you’re in a room full of people who all agree with you. Every time you say something, they nod and cheer. You never hear a different opinion, so it starts to feel like everyone thinks the same — and that anyone who disagrees must be totally unreasonable or extreme. That’s an echo chamber, and political news echo chambers work the same way. If you only consume media that supports your side, you’re reinforcing your own beliefs while making opposing views seem rare, wrong, or even dangerous.
Social media takes it a step further. Every platform wants to keep your attention, so it learns what gets a reaction out of you — whether it’s a “like,” a “thumbs down,” or a fired-up comment. If you interact with something, even if it makes you mad, the algorithm thinks, “Okay — so more of that!” and starts feeding you similar content.
Here’s the twist: you’re more likely to engage strongly with views you strongly disagree with. So now, you’re seeing more of those far-off opinions and thinking they’re everywhere. The effect is the same — you start believing the fringe is the mainstream.
And the people posting those extreme takes? They’re often not representative of their side at all. But when their views go viral, it no longer matters how fringe they are — suddenly, they look like the norm. That’s how a perception becomes a belief. And that’s what feeds a perception gap.
The Real World Consequences
I wear glasses. If there existed a widely-held perception that people who wear glasses are not trustworthy, I would probably find it difficult to gain employment. Having presented that to you, you can see how unjust that would be, can’t you? We obviously can’t make the generalization that people who wear glasses aren’t trustworthy, but it’s the same sort of generalization and inaccuracy that people pass off as truth about the other side’s positions. False beliefs deepen cultural conflict and erode trust.
What’s even worse, they make compromise seem like betrayal, and they can make people feel justified in demonizing the other side. We saw some cases where a controversial theory was selectively cited — with a few of its more provocative elements highlighted — to argue that the entire framework was now part of standard school curriculum. We also saw a situation in which the fear of a situation led to the situation. I’m talking about Critical Race Theory (CRT) and book bans, and they both have relevance in perception gaps.
Let’s start with CRT. CRT is an academic framework developed over 40 years ago, primarily used in higher education — mainly in law schools — to examine how systemic racism influences laws and societal structures. Teaching CRT at the K-12 level wouldn’t be effective, and so schools aren’t teaching CRT at the K-12 level. Some educational materials may incorporate discussions on race and inequality, and that’s not at all the same thing.
What happened with the book bans? Some people expressed concerns that schools were pushing inappropriate and dangerous content through books. This “pushing” included the books’ existence in the school library. The expression of the concerns got picked up by national media, and opponents started calling these expressions “calls for book bans.” There’s nothing that sparks outrage like a great, alliterative catch phrase, so the term “Book Ban” caught on, inaccurate as it was. Well, now we have a wildfire of a phrase moving through the nation’s consciousness, and state legislatures jumped onboard, actually taking the step of restricting access to some books. In effect, fear of censorship led to actual censorship.
We’re Not That Different
We each tend to see ourselves as reasonable, not out on the fringe of our side, but we look at “the others” and see them as way, way on the edge of that side. That’s far less accurate than you may think, or want to believe. Most Americans agree on more than we think, on issues like fairness, safety, opportunity, and rule of law. Pew Research has repeatedly found overlap in concerns like the importance of affordable healthcare, the badness of corruption, and government overreach. We may believe these to be partisan issues, but they’re really not.
On the simple, day-to-day things of our lives, we’re very much alike with everyone with whom we disagree politically. You have to eat. So do I. You wear clothes out in public. Me too! You feel good when you laugh? Wow — I feel good when I laugh. Look at that — right off the top, we have three important things we can easily agree on. I bet we could find a lot more. And that’s where we do our living.
Your Turn
Have you ever thought you knew what someone felt or believed and then discovered you were wrong? I have, and after a while, I figured I needed to do some discovery, and the result is this article. I’d love to hear what you once thought someone believed but found out differently. Or, if you think this whole concept is poppycock, I’ll entertain that as well, if you express it with respect. Scroll down past the Related Posts section and drop a comment.
Interested in finding out more? Check out these links:
Perception Gaps and How We Can Overcome Fear of “the Other Side” – StoryCorps
My photography shops are https://www.oakwoodfineartphotography.com/ and https://oakwoodfineart.etsy.com, my merch shops are https://www.zazzle.com/store/south_fried_shop and https://society6.com/southernfriedyanqui.
Check out my New and Featured page – the latest photos and merch I’ve added to my shops! https://oakwoodexperience.com/new-and-featured/
Curious about safeguarding your digital life without getting lost in the technical weeds? Check out ‘Your Data, Your Devices, and You’—a straightforward guide to understanding and protecting your online presence. Perfect for those who love tech but not the jargon. Available now on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Your-Data-Devices-Easy-Follow-ebook/dp/B0D5287NR3
