Partisans hold systematic misperceptions that exaggerate their opponents’ extremism and hostility.

Evidence

Political groups develop warped perceptions about each other, incorrectly thinking that their opponents possess especially extreme political views (false polarization)61,65,82,83 and lack key human traits (dehumanization)84,85. Partisans also overestimate how negatively they would feel if they interacted with their opponents86, and they have exaggerated perceptions of how much their opponents dislike and dehumanize them (inaccurate meta-perceptions)48,87. These misconceptions may stem from several sources, including the rhetoric from political elites, mass media and social media88. — Rachel Hartman et al., Interventions to Reduce Partisan…, 30

Categorization

• DEFINE: Crisply catalogs the distinct misperception constructs (false polarization, dehumanization, affective forecasting bias, inaccurate meta-perceptions) that structure the interventions literature.
• XREF: Supplies the specific misperception typology to pair against the skeptical 2025 PNAS depolarization-is-hard finding the reader is benchmarking. — connects to: Partisans across many countries exaggerate outgroup hostility toward their ingroup — Rachel Hartman et al., Interventions to Reduce Partisan…, 75; Partisans massively overestimate disliked traits in the opposing party — Rachel Hartman et al., Interventions to Reduce Partisan…, 32; Ideologically aligned false news is remembered far more by partisans — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 83 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Partisans across many countries exaggerate outgroup hostility toward their ingroup #expands (0.95) — Rachel Hartman et al., Interventions to Reduce Partisan…, 75
• Partisans massively overestimate disliked traits in the opposing party #expands (0.95) — Rachel Hartman et al., Interventions to Reduce Partisan…, 32
• Correcting misperceptions reduces partisan animosity across at least 26 countries. #corroborates (0.85) — Rachel Hartman et al., Interventions to Reduce Partisan…, 39
• Hostility distorts even factual accounts of enemies in good faith #corroborates (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 41
• Hostility toward rivals is expressed by attributing unrecognisable, repulsive opinions to them #exemplifies (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1493
• Ideologically aligned false news is remembered far more by partisans #expands (0.78) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 83
• Partisan false memories of real events follow ideological bias #exemplifies (0.78) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 83
• Partisan identity skews which conspiracist claims people credit #exemplifies (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 36
• People hold contradictory stereotypes about right-wingers just as they do about leftists #expands (0.75) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 87