The general fault in our fault lines.
Kai RuggeriBojana VećkalovLana BojanićThomas Lind AndersenSarah Ashcroft-JonesNélida AyacaxliPaula Barea-ArroyoMari Louise BergeLudvig Daae BjørndalAslı BursalıoğluVanessa BühlerMartin ČadekMelis ÇetinçelikGeorgia ClayAnna Cortijos-BernabeuKaja DamnjanovićTatianna M DugueMaya EsbergCelia Esteban-SernaEzra N FelderMaja FriedemannDarianna I Frontera-VillanuevaPatricia GaleEduardo Garcia-GarzonSandra J GeigerLeya GeorgeAllegra GirardelloAleksandra GrachevaAnastasia GrachevaMarquis GuilloryMarlene HechtKatharina HerteBarbora HubenáWilliam IngallsLea JakobMargo JanssensHannes JarkeOndřej KáchaKalina Nikolova KalinovaRalitsa KarakashevaPeggah R KhorramiŽan LepSamuel LinsIngvild S LofthusSalomé MamedeSilvana MarevaMafalda F MascarenhasLucy McGillSara Morales-IzquierdoBettina MoltrechtTasja S MuellerMarzia MusettiJoakim NelssonThiago OttoAlessandro F PaulIrena PavlovićMarija B PetrovićDora PopovićGerhard M PrinzJosip RazumIvaylo SakelarievVivian SamuelsInés SanguinoNicolas SayJakob SchuckIrem SoysalAnna Louise TodsenMarkus R TünteMilica VdovicJáchym VintrMaja VovkoMarek A VrankaLisa WagnerLauren WilkinsManou WillemsElizabeth WisdomAleksandra YosifovaSandy ZengMahmoud A AhmedTwinkle DwarkanathMina CikaraJeffrey LeesTomas FolkePublished in: Nature human behaviour (2021)
Pervading global narratives suggest that political polarization is increasing, yet the accuracy of such group meta-perceptions has been drawn into question. A recent US study suggests that these beliefs are inaccurate and drive polarized beliefs about out-groups. However, it also found that informing people of inaccuracies reduces those negative beliefs. In this work, we explore whether these results generalize to other countries. To achieve this, we replicate two of the original experiments with 10,207 participants across 26 countries. We focus on local group divisions, which we refer to as fault lines. We find broad generalizability for both inaccurate meta-perceptions and reduced negative motive attribution through a simple disclosure intervention. We conclude that inaccurate and negative group meta-perceptions are exhibited in myriad contexts and that informing individuals of their misperceptions can yield positive benefits for intergroup relations. Such generalizability highlights a robust phenomenon with implications for political discourse worldwide.