A Contingent Perspective on Pluralistic Ignorance: When the Attitudinal Object Matters

Abstract

Although past research has suggested that pluralistic ignorance—a mismatch between perceptions of others’ opinions and actual personal opinions—does not occur in every circumstance, no studies have directly investigated variations among different attitude objects. Drawing upon theoretical and analytical approaches based on social representations, this study examines differences between personal opinions and perceived opinions of different groups toward same-sex female parenting (a newly debated attitude object) and working mothers (an older debated attitude object). Using data from a study (N = 743) conducted in Switzerland, the findings indicate that pluralistic ignorance occurs in opinions toward same-sex female parenting. Furthermore, the findings show that pluralistic ignorance arises from false consensus among conservatives and from false uniqueness among liberals.

The Impact of Laws on Norms Perceptions

“…We collected a quasi-representative sample in October 2016 in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, as part of a larger project including additional measures. Some data from this project (i.e., one variable from a total of six reported variables; that is, personal opinions toward same-sex female parenting) was previously reported in Eisner et al (2020); however, the present study departs from this study by focusing on a set of predominantly unique dependent variables. 1 The sample was randomly selected based on a geographical criterion.…”

“…We hypothesized the following: Participants perceive most residents in the canton of Vaud to be more disapproving than they actually are (Hypothesis 1). Some data from this project (i.e., one variable from a total of six reported variables; i.e., personal opinions toward same-sex female parenting) was previously reported in Eisner and al. (2019), however, the present study departs from this study by focusing on a set of predominantly unique dependent variables 1 .…”

“…We complement this with Study 2, which combined a natural experiment that tests the impact of informing people about a new law on stepchild adoption and their prior knowledge of this law to provide new insights into how a law affects people's perceptions of societal norms and pluralistic ignorance. Please note that Study 1 relies on a dataset that has been used to explore how pluralistic ignorance toward same-sex female parenting and working mothers changes across groups varying in their size and distance to the individual (Eisner et al, 2020). The goal of this study is instead to examine pluralistic ignorance at the societal level toward same-sex female parenting, same-sex male parenting, and same-sex marriage.…”

The Impact of Laws on Norms Perceptions

“…We collected a quasi-representative sample in October 2016 in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, as part of a larger project including additional measures. Some data from this project (i.e., one variable from a total of six reported variables; i.e., personal opinions toward same-sex female parenting) was previously reported in Eisner and al. (2019), however, the present study departs from this study by focusing on a set of predominantly unique dependent variables 1 .…”

“…We complement this with Study 2, which combined a natural experiment that tests the impact of informing people about a new law on step-child adoption and their prior knowledge of this law to provide new insight into how a law affects people's perceptions of societal norms and pluralistic ignorance. Please note that Study 1 relies on a dataset that has been used to explore how pluralistic ignorance toward same-sex female parenting and working mothers changes across groups varying in their size and distance to the individual (Eisner et al, 2019).…”