People's perception of facts is often wrong. News media focus on the bad news, with the result that we think things are worse than they really are. And if we allow the gloom to bring us down, it can affect our health. Remember that 5 positive, encouraging remarks are needed to offset the negative impact of just one piece of bad news.
In the UK
Murder: people think that the murder rate is getting higher or staying the same - wrong. In reality the murder rate is plunging and dropped by almost a third since 2000.
Terrorism: we think deaths from terrorism has got worse in the last 15 years - wrong. In fact they are significantly lower, down from over 300 to just 62.
Prisoners: people guess that 34% of prisoners are foreign born - wrong. The actual figure is 11.8% (much the same as the proportion of the overall population.)
Teenage pregnancy: people guess that 20% (or 1 in 5) babies are born to teenage mums - wrong. The real teenage pregnancy rate is 1.4% (just 1 in 70).
Diabetes: people think that about a quarter (25%) of British adults have diabetes - wrong. In fact the actual number is just 5% (5 in 100).
Vaccines: more than half of Britons are unsure or believe there is a link between vaccines and autism - wrong. The claim is widely discredited but only 45% of people know that it is false.
Health: people guess that only just over half of us are in good health - wrong. Actually the majority (75%) of Britons say their health is good or very good.
Technology: we estimate Facebook membership guessing that 74% of Britons aged 13+ have a Facebook account - wrong. In fact 58% are members.
Source: IPSO MORI Perils of Perception 2017 report
