The framing of a survey question can create anchoring effects that distort how people report their perceptions.

Human minds are highly sensitive to how questions are posed. In surveys about economic inequality, asking respondents to estimate the percentage of wealth held by different groups can trigger powerful anchoring effects. This leads people to report perceiving much lower inequality than they actually do. When asked logically equivalent but differently framed questions about average levels, their answers shift dramatically to reflect their true views.