Perception and Public Opinion

1
Perception and Public Opinion
2
Socialization and social comparison

• Perceptions of reality are real, even if they are
  not true.
• Perceptions are influenced by
• (1) Socialization includes the transmission
  of culture from one generation to the next.
  Parents are very important in this process.
  Party loyalty is fairly stable over time
• (2) Social comparison Festinger argues that
  humans (a) are driven to evaluate opinions and
  abilities (b) use the opinions of others in the
  absence of other mean and if group membership is
  attractive, they will experience pressure to
  adjust public opinion to conform to the dominant
  opinion within the group.

3
Perceiving others opinions

• Five factors influence our perceptions
• (1) information from the actor (e.g. unusual
  behavior)
• (2) influence of perceivers expectations on this
  information (invokes stereotyping)
• (3) relationship between perceiver and actor
  (friend, rival, colleague etc.)
• (4) social context
• (5) cultural setting.

4
Public Opinion Formation(1)

• In the absence of knowledge of what the opinions
  of others actually are, people make educated
  guesses based on perceptions of their interests,
  backgrounds, etc.
• Looking-glass Perception people see
  significant others as holding the same opinions
  or issues that they themselves hold.
  Looking-glass perception can occur when the
  true opinion is exactly the opposite of ones
  own.
• Pluralistic Ignorance the majority position on
  issues is incorrectly perceived to be the
  minority position. It can occur when individuals
  underestimate the proportion of others who think,
  feel or act as they themselves do. It may occur
  as a result of embarrassment, where an individual
  does not own up to what they truly feel when they
  think it may not be socially acceptable, but
  project that opinion or feeling onto the
  majority.

5
Public Opinion Formation (2)

• Disowning Projection individual tends to
  attribute selfish motivation, evil intent and
  stupid attitudes to others, and to disclaim them
  for self, even though objectively, the reverse
  may seem true to impartial observer.
• Conservative, Liberal and Ideological Biases
  individuals see others opinions as either more
  liberal, or more conservative than their own,
  regardless of whether this is actually the case.
  May occur as result of projection.

6
Public Opinion Formation (3)

• False Consensus Effect individuals overestimate
  the number of other people who agree with their
  views. Alternative views are regarded as
  uncommon.
• Reasons self-enhancement, motivation to view
  the other as oneself, need for social support and
  validation, need to feel confident in ones own
  views and behaviors.
• Might occur as a result of selective exposure
  and recall of other people
• Might be an attempt to seem normal, appropriate
  and rational.
• Might be prompted by embarrassment, and an
  attempt to pass off ones own perception as the
  norm.

7
Public Opinion Formation (4)

• Impersonal Impact and Unrealistic Optimism
  individuals see themselves being somehow
  different from others in terms of the probability
  of good or bad things happening to them.
• Third Person Effect people think that the media
  will have greater impact on others than on
  themselves.

8
Public Opinion Formation (5)

• Spiral of Silence ones perception of the
  distribution of public opinion affects ones
  willingness or unwillingness to express opinions.
  Those who perceive that their opinions are losing
  ground may be more reserved in expressing their
  opinions. At heart is a concern to be accepted
  by others, and to avoid isolation (or worse). The
  media are important in this because they are
  everywhere, and they repeat the same messages
  over and over again.

9
Public Opinion Formation (6)

• Problems with these approaches are none
  specifies clearly the roles that social and
  reference groups can play in opinion formation
• there is no discussion of cultural influences
• there is little consistent theoretical thread in
  the research
• there is no direct reference to political
  manipulation of public opinion.