Political identity can override direct visual perception of crowd sizes

Evidence

Two researchers surveyed over 1,000 Americans showing them the exact same two photographs, but with one twist: this time they did not reveal which image belonged to which inauguration. One group was asked to identify which image belonged to Trump’s inauguration and which belonged to Obama’s. On this question, 41 per cent of Trump voters gave the wrong answer (compared to 8 per cent of Hillary Clinton voters). Perhaps they just assumed the turnout for Trump was bigger than it really was. Yet, another group was asked a much simpler question: which photo has more people in it? Still 15 per cent of Trump voters said there were more people present in the right-hand image (Trump’s inauguration) than the left-hand image, compared to 2 per cent of Clinton voters. The researchers were so stunned by this result that they concluded that something else must be going on. You cannot look at these images and conclude with a straight face that the image on the right has more people in it than the left. The answer is politically motivated. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 109

Categorization

• CANDY: The statistic that 15 percent of Trump voters, shown two unmasked photos, insisted the smaller crowd was larger is a striking bar-table fact.
• QUESTION: The finding that people will contradict plainly visible evidence for partisan reasons deserves comparison with other perceptual-contamination studies — does loyalty override low-level vision or only higher-level judgment?
• XREF: connects to: Visual perception of a photo crowd can be distorted by political bias — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 109; Visual media presentation changes political persuasion outcomes.; Shared identity with a crowd converts density from threat into safety — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 150 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Visual perception of a photo crowd can be distorted by political bias #corroborates (0.92) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 109
• Visual media presentation changes political persuasion outcomes. #expands (0.75)
• Shared identity with a crowd converts density from threat into safety #exemplifies (0.75) — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 150
• Crowd phenomena reduce to regressions in individual psyches, not group minds #contradicts (0.72)
• Shared identity turns crowds from irrational mobs into solidarity-based adaptive resources #exemplifies (0.70) — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 164