Perceived ideological extremity of outgroups drives a self-reinforcing cycle of polarization
Evidence
Outgroup extremity is self-fulfilling People on the left and right perceive others as more ideologically extreme than they actually are, which in turn affects the extremity of their own views65. This means that perceived as opposed to actual ideological polarization may be a stronger driver of negative outgroup attitudes61. People thus exaggerate the extremity of outgroup members, which may lead them to become more extreme themselves. In turn, this may cause their outgroup to become even more extreme, resulting in a seemingly never-ending cycle fuelled both by misperceptions and— eventually—by reality. — Rachel Hartman et al., Interventions to Reduce Partisan…, 74
Categorization
- XREF: Connects directly to the reader’s benchmark — the meta-analytic effect sizes against which the 2025 PNAS depolarization-is-hard finding is being weighed; the misperception-correction mechanism here is one of the intervention families being catalogued. — connects to: Polarization suppresses moderates through terrorist intimidation — Gregory H. Stanton, Ten Stages of Genocide, 14; Misperceived outgroup extremity drives real polarization through a self-fulfilling spiral.; Partisans across many countries exaggerate outgroup hostility toward their ingroup — Rachel Hartman et al., Interventions to Reduce Partisan…, 75