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Opposing Misperceptions of Wealth: Liberals overestimate their neighborhoods’ wealth in wealthier neighborhoods, while Conservatives overestimate their neighborhoods’ wealth in poor neighborhoods

Lilly, Kieren, Dawtry, Rael J., Sutton, Robbie M., Sibley, Chris G., Osborne, Danny (2024) Opposing Misperceptions of Wealth: Liberals overestimate their neighborhoods’ wealth in wealthier neighborhoods, while Conservatives overestimate their neighborhoods’ wealth in poor neighborhoods. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 15 (8). pp. 933-942. ISSN 1948-5506. E-ISSN 1948-5514. (doi:10.1177/19485506241265410) (KAR id:106334)

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Abstract

Although perceptions of wealth are shaped by people’s social environment and ideological beliefs, few studies integrate these two perspectives. We address this oversight by examining the association between participants’ actual and estimated average neighborhood household income and whether political orientation moderates this relationship. Using a large, nationwide random sample of New Zealand adults (N = 14,853), our results reveal that both liberals and conservatives overestimated the wealth of their own neighborhoods—but these differences only emerged in the poorest and wealthiest neighborhoods. Specifically, in poor neighborhoods, conservatives were less accurate than liberals at estimating the average income of their neighborhood. In rich neighborhoods, liberals were less accurate than conservatives at this same task. The implications of these results for understanding (mis)perceptions of wealth on both sides of the political spectrum are discussed.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1177/19485506241265410
Uncontrolled keywords: perceptions of wealth; political orientation; household income; multilevel modelling
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Funders: University of Kent (https://ror.org/00xkeyj56)
Depositing User: Robbie Sutton
Date Deposited: 18 Jun 2024 22:24 UTC
Last Modified: 27 Nov 2024 15:58 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/106334 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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