Correcting misperceptions of gun policy support can foster intergroup cooperation between gun owners and non-gun owners.

ABSTRACT: Past research finds that a majority of gun and non-gun owners support key gun safety policies, yet gun owners tend to underestimate other gun owners' support for these policies. We predicted that these misperceptions of support might lead gun owners to view non-gun owners as being less similar to themselves, which might undermine intergroup cooperation to promote gun safety policies and fuel intergroup animosity. Importantly, we also predicted that correcting these misperceptions would be an effective way to reduce intergroup division and enhance intergroup cooperation. We tested these predictions across two studies in which participants were randomly assigned to read information designed to correct misperceptions of gun owner support or to read other, control information. Across both stud

SUBMITTER: Susmann MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9176832 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature