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"The most startling result is that the more educated tend to believe that they are more left-wing than they are measured as being," said Dr Rockey. "That is, well-educated individuals are more likely to think that they are quite left-wing but actually believe things that compared to the rest of the population would make them comparatively right-wing.
"The analysis suggests that the cause of this is different to the effect of gender, income, or job type. Other results suggest that men and those with higher-incomes are more likely to both think that they are rightwing and to be measured as such."
Dr Rockey said one speculative explanation is that people may hold on to their perception that they have left-wing views, but that over time as their circumstances and social network changes their actual political opinions drift rightwards.
This could be because they are comparing themselves against their immediate social/work circle rather than the population as a whole.
It remains the case that richer people, tend to be more right wing and are also aware of this.
Dr Rockey concludes: "It is clear is that, for whatever reason, an individual's conception of their ideological position often differs from that predicted by a policy question.
"Many of these results merit further investigation. Perhaps the most interesting question would be to consider why men and women see things so differently.
"The broad conclusion of the paper must be that individuals either choose not to, or are unable to, locate their ideological positions reliably compared to those of the positions of their compatriots.
"This is further evidence not just that voters are far from fully informed, but that somehow voters consistently misperceive where they lie on the ideological spectrum."
I think any of you could test this out and come out with the similar results. Do a "man on the street" type thing and find people who say they lean left. Then list some examples and scenarios and Im sure many of them will end up not Left leaning by their answers.
And one of the last points is so obvious in our society. There are so many people who are not informed or nor informed whatsover about what is going on in the country.
Interesting, overexposure to the world of academia will brainwash a person and make them lose clarity on their own personal beliefs. I suspected it all along. It's great that a study was done to confirm it.
Interesting, overexposure to the world of academia will brainwash a person and make them lose clarity on their own personal beliefs. I suspected it all along. It's great that a study was done to confirm it.
Yep. You get it beat into your head by Hollywood, the media, and the educational system things that lean toward a Lefty frame of mind. Some people continue to be so wrapped up in other things only partially paying attention or paying more attention to the latest celeb gossip or what the NYT or Holllywood tells them, they dont stop and really thing about things.
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