Perception of public opinion: Bias in estimating group opinions

World Futures 57 (5):435-451 (2001)
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Abstract

This study investigated how individuals perceive public opinion, examining several typical biases in estimating other people's opinions. Analyses of survey responses from university students provided evidence of ?looking glass perception?, a tendency to see others as holding opinions similar to one's own on public issues. Looking glass perception was found more significant in estimating the opinions of one's reference groups than in assessing the opinion of the anonymous general public. This finding suggests that looking glass perception may be attributed to individuals? desire to be accepted by ?significant? other people. This study also found that a respondent's estimate of the opinion (% of conservative opinions) of a particular group on one issue was correlated with his/her estimate of the opinion of the same group on another issue. This finding suggests that individuals may have a preconception about the ideological position ("conservative? or ?liberal") of a particular social group and employ the preconception, to some extent, to estimate the opinions of the group on various public issues

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Public Opinion.Charles E. Merriam - 1946 - Philosophical Review 55:497.

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