Conservative bias in perceptions of public opinion among citizens: perceived social norms about abortion rights in post-Roe United States

Abstract

Politicians appear to overestimate how conservative public opinion is in the U.S. and other Western democracies. Whether this "conservative bias"extends to voters remains unclear but has important implications for belief formation and behavior. I examine this in the context of abortion access after the Dobbs decision. Despite the salience of the topic, original survey data collected post-Dobbs reveal consistent underestimation of public support for abortion access. Individuals identifying as "pro-life"drive most of this underestimation, suggesting the presence of egocentric biases in which "pro-life"Americans overestimate the commonality of their views. Conservative biases among voters may contribute to a skewed information environment for politicians, potentially providing leverage for further restrictions on abortion access.