Ignorance is Bliss? Age, Misinformation, and Support for Women's Representation

Barry C. Burden and Yoshikuni Ono

Discussion papers from Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI)

Abstract: Most people overestimate how many women have been elected in Congress and state legislatures, but this misinformation reduces with age. Multivariate analysis of our original survey data confirms that young people are prone to overestimating how many seats are held by women, and this pattern is especially sharper among male respondents. In addition, a memory of being represented by a woman in the past tends to inflate overestimates further. Erroneous thinking among the young may produce an "ignorance is bliss" effect by reducing the apparent need to elect more women to office and raising levels of trust in government. In contrast, more realistic beliefs among older people makes the dominance of men in public office more apparent and actionable.

Pages: 48 pages
Date: 2020-07
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eti:dpaper:20066

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