Mind the Gap: Perceiving and Realizing

This morning the New York Times reports … on a report. The International Migration Organization issued its annual report, available for $60, where it looked at, among other things, public perceptions of the presence of immigrants. In Italy, where 7% of the people are foreign-born, respondents believed that a quarter of all people were immigrants.
        In the US, respondents thought up to 39% of Americans were immigrants. Whew! Only 14% of Americans are immigrants. Countries like Switzerland, New Zealand, and Qatar have much higher proportions of immigrants than the US. Switzerland?!?

       In a recent study by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Norton and Duke University Professor Dan Ariely, public perceptions about wealth are totally different from reality (see below, 'Estimated' is what people thought the inequality was). 82% of the wealth in the US is held by the top 20% of the population. But people think that the top 20% own about 56% (more than a quarter less!). And in Americans’ ideal, the top 20% would own just over 30%, making it more equitable than Sweden.

       So Americans think there are more immigrants. And they think our society is MUCH more equitable than it is. (By the way, these misperceptions are not only American. For example, in Argentina nearly everyone thinks they are middle class.)

      Why do people have misperceptions? Because they do not have the correct information. You could blame this on the way school systems and textbooks do not investigate how America’s economy is structured. You could blame it on individuals who do not read the newspapers enough. You could blame it on the media for not making it a bit deal. You can blame politicians for not stressing the unequal opportunities children have. You can blame scholars for not finding a way to be more public with their findings. Many others could be blamed as well.

      Having a well-informed public seems very democratic. If people had better information, people would act differently. Public support for programs would shift (see the chart above for attitude shift with better information). Political participants would be able to better make decisions that match their priorities. And so our political system would be more responsive to the wants and needs of the people.  The tension is between being a democracy and having a capitalistic system. Do some groups profit from masking the inequalities? Who profits from keeping the people docile? 

Next week, I'll write about the American Dream and other myths.