Project sheet
CALL: PRIN: RESEARCH PROJECTS OF RELEVANT NATIONAL INTEREST - Call for proposals 2022
TITLE: MIsperceptions, information disorder and polarisation between MEdia and political SYStems (MiMeSys)
DURATION: 24 months from 28.09.2023 to 27.09.2025
RESPONSIBLE: Prof. Mosca Lorenzo (Principal Investigator)
European Research Council (ERC) SECTOR: SH 3 - "The Social World and Its Diversity"
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Website: https://www.mimesys-project.it/
Brief description
Recent evidence shows that European citizens often have distorted perceptions of social and political facts, which do not correspond to objective reality. For example, immigrants make up 4.2 percent of the population in the EU, but citizens think they are about four times more. This gap affects how citizens evaluate political issues, leaders and public policies, and their political participation. Misperceptions play a distorting role in the entire political process, and the political and media elites greatly influence citizens' views, although their role is often understudied.
The MiMeSys project focuses on analyzing information disorder and ideological and affective polarization as major causes of misperceptions, and explores their effects on political attitudes and behaviors. It will address relevant topics such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war, the refugee crisis, climate change, and gender equality. It will use a multi-method approach that includes public opinion sample surveys, experiments, elite polling, and media analysis (traditional and social).
The project will contribute to the understanding of the causes and policy implications of misperceptions, with results of interest to the academic community, media professionals, and the general public. MiMeSys will strengthen research on three main fronts: understanding the accuracy of citizens' political beliefs, taking a multi-actor approach that also considers elites, and a look beyond the United States, focusing on contexts such as Italy. In addition, the project will disseminate information on the sources of misperceptions and fact-checked texts by helping to educate citizens, especially young adults, in to take a critical approach to information.
