Passing the Life in the UK Test is an essential requirement for those who seek UK citizenship. This citizenship test, attempted around 150,000 times per year, has incurred criticism for its content and difficulty, and for its role in causing psychological distress. We examined, among a representative adult UK population, people’s reactions to this important instrument. Results showed that two-thirds (66.4%) of UK residents, most of whom held citizenship, failed their own countries’ citizenship test. Participants on the right (vs. left) of the political and ideological spectrum were more likely to overestimate their own performance and demand higher performance from immigrants than left-leaning voters, even though these voters’ actual performance did not differ. Strikingly, completing the Life in the UK Test caused participants to subsequently endorse milder test requirements, a finding that generalized well across political ideology and voter categories. Initial overconfidence in one’s own test performance mediated this change in attitudes. Results suggest that support for improving the Life in the UK Test can be garnered across the political spectrum by confronting people with the content of this life-changing tool.

中文翻译：

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公民虚荣？参与英国公民测试预示着整个政治领域移民的需求会更温和

通过英国生活测试是寻求英国公民身份的人的基本要求。这项公民身份测试每年进行约 150,000 次尝试，因其内容和难度以及在造成心理困扰方面的作用而招致批评。我们在英国有代表性的成年人口中调查了人们对这一重要工具的反应。结果显示，三分之二 (66.4%) 的英国居民（其中大部分拥有公民身份）未能通过本国的公民身份测试。与左倾选民相比，政治和意识形态光谱中右翼（与左翼）的参与者更有可能高估自己的表现，并要求移民提供更高的表现，尽管这些选民的实际表现没有差异。引人注目的是，完成了英国的生活导致参与者随后认可更温和的测试要求，这一发现在政治意识形态和选民类别中得到了很好的概括。最初对自己考试成绩的过度自信调节了态度的这种变化。结果表明，通过让人们了解这种改变生活的工具的内容，可以在整个政治领域获得对改善英国生活测试的支持。