David Beavers, "Why Do Misperceptions Worsen as Relevant Information Increases?" (w/Jennifer L. Hochschild)
Representative democracy is predicated on having a public sufficiently informed to hold leaders accountable and to make sensible choices when voting. Despite Americans' low levels of factual political knowledge, research generally shows that exposure to corrective information attenuates misperceptions and posits that as the cost of acquiring information diminishes and the stakes for possessing accurate information increase, factual accuracy increases. This paper examines a puzzling counterexample. Despite ample media attention to – and direct lived experience of – the COVID-19 pandemic, a weekly cross-sectional survey of a total of 37,500 Americans fielded between April and December 2020 reveals that Americans became less accurate over time in their beliefs about the scale of coronavirus deaths. Given this paradox, we ask: (1) Under what conditions do people move – or fail to move – toward factual accuracy in their perceptions of the scope of COVID-19 fatalities as corrective information accumulates? (2) How do misperceptions about the pandemic affect political attitudes and behaviors?The American Politics Research Workshop (Gov 3004) meets all academic year, Tuesdays, 12:00 - 2:00 PM, in CGIS K354. This workshop presents an opportunity for graduate students and Harvard faculty to present and receive feedback on their current research. The workshop highlights key theoretical and empirical findings from Harvard affiliates on topics related to American politics.
All interested Harvard affiliates are invited to attend.
LOCATION:CGIS Knafel, room K354 STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20230411T160000Z DTEND:20230411T180000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR