Correcting Political Misperceptions and Meta-Perceptions to Reduce Affective Polarization and Strengthen Democratic Norms in South Korea

This study investigates whether correcting political misperception—(Type 1) misperceptions about the ideological position of opposing party supporters, or (Type 2) inaccurate meta-perceptions about how opposing party supporters view one’s own group—can reduce affective polarization and strengthen support for democratic norms in South Korea. In a survey experiment, participants are randomly assigned to receive either Type 1 or Type 2 corrective feedback. • Type 1 (Misperception Correction): Respondents are shown how their perception of the opposing party supporters’ average ideological position compares to actual data. • Type 2 (Inaccurate Meta-perception Correction): Respondents are shown how their belief about how the opposing party supporters view the respondents’ political group compares to actual data. The feedback compares respondents’ beliefs (perception or meta-perception) with actual average responses from the opposing partisan group. The study evaluates whether these corrections reduce affective polarization and whether such reduction leads to increased support for democratic norms, including electoral legitimacy, rejection of political violence, support for pluralism, and protection of minority rights. We also examine whether the effect varies by characteristics of the respondent such as strength of partisan identity and baseline levels of affective polarization.