From Groups to Individuals: How Identifiability Reduces Biased Meta-Perceptions and Polarization

Political polarization reflects not only people's attitudes toward rival groups but also their meta-perceptions—beliefs about how one's group is viewed by the opposing side. These second-order beliefs are often negatively biased and exaggerated (Lees and Cikara 2020), reinforcing mistrust and perceived division. The present research examined whether identifiability—considering a specific, individuated outgroup member rather than the group as a whole—may reduce bias in meta-perceptions by promoting more personalized representations of the outgroup. In Study 1 (Right- and Left-wing Jewish-Israeli participants, N = 317), participants evaluated either the political outgroup in general or a named outgroup voter (“Uri”). Those in the identifiability condition reported smaller perceived ideological gaps and less exaggerated meta-perceptions. In Study 2 (N = 165, preregistered), participants first imagined and described a typical outgroup member; identifiability again attenuated bias in meta-perceptions, particularly among right-wing participants. These findings suggest that considering identifiable outgroup members may reduce biased meta-perceptions by shifting from group-based to more personalized judgments in politically polarized contexts.