The last few years have seen a number of political movements emerge that revolve around immigration, and especially opposition to it.  It’s a phenomenon that attempts to focus on apparent differences between people.  So it’s interesting to see a new study from the University of Bath, which highlights just how small these actual differences are, and certainly how much smaller they are than people imagine.

The study analyzed data from around 140,000 people from over 60 countries to explore their moral beliefs and attitudes.  They used a method to try and determine the fundamental differences between people, and explored whether things like nationality, age, gender, religion and education level made a difference.

Similarities

The analysis revealed that people tend to think those in different groups are much more different to them than they actually are.  However, if the similarities between groups can be highlighted, it usually creates a much more positive attitude.

For instance, around 95% of the values given by women were shared by men, whilst around 80% of values crossed over between people from various nations.  Perhaps most interestingly, British and Polish people were especially similar, despite Poles being the catch-all nationality for central European migrants to the UK during the referendum campaign.  Unfortunately however, despite the real difference between the two nations being around 12%, the typical Brit thought the difference was a whopping 70%.

It’s a finding that the authors hope will help to bring society together by highlighting the huge number of similarities that exist between races, genders and nationalities.

“Our findings suggest that groups of people are much more similar than people – including researchers – might often believe. This is because whereas others look for differences, we focus explicitly on similarities – and here there is lots that unites us,” they explain.  “There is an important message for politicians, fellow academics and media commentators. When we talk about the reality, over people’s perceptions or prejudices, and instead highlight the similarities we see, we will bolster social cohesion too.”

The team plan to conduct a second project to explore whether there is a similar perception gap between Leave and Remain voters in the Brexit referendum to test whether that seemingly gaping divide could also be crossed if we refocus on the similarities that exist between us.