Identifying and Correcting Policy Misperceptions

This paper argues for the importance of distinguishing between misinformation (false information) and misperceptions (false beliefs). Factual misperceptions are not always the direct result of exposure to misinformation. I identify several substantive policy misperceptions in the American public using a combination of interview and survey data. Long-form interviews with a range of Americans probe the factual beliefs underlying their political opinions. These interviews yielded a number of common factual misperceptions, three of which are discussed in this paper. These misperceptions concern time limits on TANF, the U.S. debt to China, and Social Security. A representative survey confirms that each is present among both Democrats and Republicans. Finally, results from a twowave panel suggest that even a single correction can substantially reduce these misperceptions.