Share of minorities in Germany and the USA: Psychological Declaration

Interviews often overestimate the proportion of minorities in a population as a whole. This is usually seen as evidence of fears and prejudices. However, it seems that there is only an initial human estimation weakness.

© Rudi / Adobe Stock People overestimate minorities because they misjudge percentages – not because of fear, a new study shows.

People overestimate the number of immigrants or other minorities. Why? Because the majority are afraid of the minority, social scientists have thought so far. A new study provides a better explanation.

We often overestimate how many members of minorities actually live in our country. However, this is neither a national nor a political phenomenon, but above all a general human error of thought, as researchers have now proven. It comes about through the intellectual processes with which we assess proportions – and often wrongly with lack of knowledge [...] The contribution Why we overestimate the proportion of minorities appeared first on wissen…

The reason for this has nothing to do with fear of minorities. People generally find it difficult to appreciate relationships