First published at 03:02 UTC on March 31st, 2022.
An EYE-OPENING piece that all Americans should see. The difference between longstanding media manipulation and the truth is demonstrated brilliantly by Watters.
When it comes to estimating the size of demographic groups, Americans rarely get it …
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An EYE-OPENING piece that all Americans should see. The difference between longstanding media manipulation and the truth is demonstrated brilliantly by Watters.
When it comes to estimating the size of demographic groups, Americans rarely get it right. In two recent YouGov polls, we asked respondents to guess the percentage (ranging from 0% to 100%) of American adults who are members of 43 different groups, including racial and religious groups, as well as other less frequently studied groups, such as pet owners and those who are left-handed.
When people’s average perceptions of group sizes are compared to actual population estimates, an intriguing pattern emerges: Americans tend to vastly overestimate the size of minority groups. This holds for sexual minorities, including the proportion of gays and lesbians (estimate: 30%, true: 3%), bisexuals (estimate: 29%, true: 4%), and people who are transgender (estimate: 21%, true: 0.6%).
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