The political gap that divides Americans is widening and new research suggests the problem is rooted in our own misperceptions.
The wedge that separates the nation is a general sense of suspicion and distrust for opposing political views, which is causing "increased interpersonal conflict" while "preventing progress on shared concerns, and undermining Americans' faith in democracy," a new study by More in Common found.
The authors set out to determine how opposing partisan groups perceived each other. To do so, they looked at a "perception gap," which compares the things Republicans and Democrats think they disagree on to what they actually do disagree on.
What they found was that Americans agree more than they think they do.
"The results of this study suggest that Americans imagine themselves to be far more divided than they really are," researchers wrote.
To arrive at this final conclusion, more than 2,100 Americans were surveyed the week after the 2018 midterm elections, The Christian Post noted.
A range of questions regarding numerous policy views was put forth to respondents that identified strongly as either Republican or Democrat. They were then asked what percentage of their political opponents they thought agreed with the statements and views for their set of questions.
Republicans were asked whether or not they agreed with several statements such as: "Racism still exists in America" and "properly controlled immigration can be good for America."
Democrats, meanwhile, were asked their views on statements including: "The U.S. should have completely open borders" and "America should be a socialist country."
The study found that while Democrats and Republicans believe that 55% of their opponents' views are extreme, in reality only about 30% are.
A closer look at the data shows that Democrats expected 53% of Republicans to hold extreme views, when in reality that number is realistically closer to 34%. Meanwhile, Republicans thought 56% of their opposition would hold extreme views when only 29% of Democrats are extreme.
"While there are profound divisions across the fault lines of race, geography, education, class and values today, this report highlights an opportunity to build bridges, because Americans are less divided than they think," authors of the study wrote.
"It is good news because it suggests that their fight may not be against other Americans, but rather against the systems perpetuating policies that cut against the will of the majority. Instead of hating and fearing each other, Americans could realize that many more people on the other side of the aisle hold the same views that they do."
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