Pluralistic ignorance in a prison community.

As part of group interaction, people often try to anticipate the attitudes and opinions of others. They sometimes misperceive those attitudes and opinions. If they are sensitive to or influenced [...]
"Pluralistic ignorance" refers to a process whereby members of a group inaccurately perceive group opinion and are misled by vocal, visible, and assertive group leaders into believing that their own opinions are less popular and less widely shared than they actually are. The result is a "perceived group opinion" which is not representative of the actual attitudes of the group members. One hundred twenty-five inmates and ninety-two correctional staff in a Canadian maximum security prison completed a questionnaire designed to measure pluralistic ignorance. Our results suggest that pluralistic ignorance may exist among inmates and guards in this Canadian institution. Both inmates and guards misperceived group opinion, but unlike the subjects in a US study conducted in the late 1950's, in which inmates were more extreme than guards in their misperceptions, the results of this study indicate that the guards are more inaccurate in their perceptions. They hold more extreme negative misperceptions of group opinion than do inmates. Previous findings suggest that stress and violence among inmates might be reduced by exposing the stereotypes and misperceptions that exist in the minds of inmates. If misperceptions are greater among correctional officers, our findings suggest that sharing communication with guards could set the stage for a broader discussion of misperceptions among both groups.