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Americans overestimate the size of minority groups and underestimate the size of most majority groups (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world
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Source: https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/41556-americans-misestimate-small-subgroups-population

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[–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

they wouldn’t have the proactive reasoning to make sure their percentage estimates add up/overlap in a way that makes sense

Yeah the moment I saw 40% Hispanic, I had to go see how they answered on other races. 40 Black, 40 Hispanic, 30 Asian, 60 White. 170%

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Yeah, and this is before we even get into availability heuristic biases that would screw over people who do understand percentages. Most people are very bad estimators. If they live in a town with 40% Hispanic people, they're gonna overestimate the total % of Hispanic people.

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