Event Details

Please join us for a discussion on “Do ‘Safe Spaces’ Reduce Sensitivity Bias” Friday, September 27, in the DeWitt Wallace Library, suite 309 from 12:00-1:00 PM. This article tests whether judgment-free "safe spaces" encourage open expression in surveys.  Lisa Mueller (Political Science) will present evidence that safe spaces elicit honest answers to sensitive questions. She randomly assigned survey respondents to reassurance of a safe space, comparing sensitivity bias across treatment and control groups as measured in two ways: 1) a standard psychometric scale; and 2) the difference between "true" attitudes toward a contentious issue (revealed through a list experiment embedded within the main survey experiment) and attitudes that respondents feel safe divulging in response to a direct question. Improving upon conventional list estimates, she combined information from list and direct questions to estimate the prevalence of the sensitive trait: disapproval toward African-American athletes who protest racial injustice. Results suggests that safe spaces make respondents more willing to divulge common sensitive behaviors but not sensitive attitudes about race.