Comment by xoa

>On a less academic note this is a major problem for science that relies on surveys, because even when anonymous people have an awareness that they're "speaking" to someone and being "judged" in some way. People, even in that moment alone with a survey, want to reinforce the image they have of themselves. When asked by a survey, "What do you want from a new newspaper?" Very few people respond, "Celebrities, scandals, and lewd pictures." People often skew to asking for thoughtful, long-form, in-depth reporting.

>BUT... then they buy tabloids and click on bait, and they don't read the complex, nuanced, long-form stuff.

I think this is a solid post overall. That said FWIW, I'll add that I think there can be a further legitimate further layer to this: people can express wishes for how the world would be as part of a desire to change themselves too even while failing to reach it (or reach it entirely) and that's not necessarily bad or wrong. Ie, one of the most effective ways to avoid things like junkfood or alcohol is to make it even mildly more inconvenient by just not having it in your house in the first place. If you're hit by a craving, and whatever it is is right on hand, then odds are vastly higher that you'll indulge said craving whether your higher order processes think that's a good idea or not. It's easily to rationalize, you already spent the money on it. But some care around yourself and further habits (like going shopping after a meal, people tend to buy far less impulse if they're feeling full then very hungry) can help create an environment that is more conducive to making the right choices. I don't think it's purely a matter of willpower.

So in a survey that invokes "how would you like the world to be?" sorts of questions I don't think it can simply be dismissed as "revealed preference" (though that can also be very important!) or hypocrisy if some people wish the world was different even if they deal with the world as it is, or if they wish there were fewer temptations or more powerful/effective tools to deal with them even if they do tend to give into temptations. It's precisely because temptations are tempting that someone might wish to make them more difficult right? Like, I don't think it'd be necessarily wrong or strange if an alcoholic supported higher alcohol taxes or fewer locations or whatever.

Again, not to disagree that sometimes people absolutely are saying things they don't really mean out of concern of judgement or the like, just further agreeing that it's really complex to tease it all out.