So, as a conservative, do you think you have liberals pegged? As a liberal, do you think you know what makes conservatives tick? It turns out that neither side may really get what the other is thinking.
A Journal of Politics study proves it. Democrats think 44% of Republicans make $250K. The actual number is 2%. Republicans think blacks make up 46% of the Democratic Party. That number is only 25%. Political scientist Mark Jones at Rice explained to KTRH why we have these preconceived notions.
“We engage in motivated reasoning. We look for information that confirms what you think, and you dismiss or block out information that doesn’t confirm what you think,” Jones explained.
And he's not sure this study will do anything to change that.
“This is hardwired behavior that is fueled by the way our system is set up. One or two studies won’t influence that,” Jones said.
Last year, a study from Pew showed 40% of both Democrats and Republicans belonged to their party because they oppose the other's values as opposed to being aligned with their own party.