In this article I argue the average person does not have an accurate perception of their government’s human rights practices. Individuals are unable to accurately gauge their government’s human rights behaviours due to a conflation of indifference, personal biases, and focused reframing efforts by the government and other interested parties. This disconnect between state practice and individual perception creates an informational barrier for human rights activists and non-governmental organizations that threatens both their public support and their ability to meet objectives. I offer analysis of the above arguments by examining a survey question from the World Values Study that asks participants to rank their state’s human rights behaviour. I find that there is no direct correlation between these perceived rankings and the state s actual human rights practices. Further, I find that individuals living in states with higher existing levels of personal human rights are more likely to have a negative view of their state’s human rights performance. Finally, I find that individuals from states with a history of past political violence are more likely to demonstrate inflated perceptions of their state’s human rights practices. These findings elucidate the necessity for human rights organizations to take account of, and potentially combat, the disconnect between individuals’ human rights perceptions and states’ action when engaging in activism.

中文翻译：

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令人不安的麻木：个人人权观念与国家人权实践之间的脱节

在这篇文章中，我认为普通人对其政府的人权实践没有准确的认识。由于冷漠、个人偏见以及政府和其他利益相关方的集中重构努力混为一谈，个人无法准确衡量其政府的人权行为。国家实践与个人认知之间的这种脱节给人权活动家和非政府组织造成了信息障碍，威胁到他们的公众支持和实现目标的能力。我通过检查世界价值观研究中的一个调查问题来分析上述论点，该问题要求参与者对其国家的人权行为进行排名。我发现这些感知排名与国家实际人权实践之间没有直接关联。此外，我发现生活在现有个人人权水平较高的州的个人更有可能对其所在州的人权表现持负面看法。最后，我发现来自有过政治暴力历史的国家的个人更有可能表现出对其国家人权实践的夸大看法。这些调查结果阐明了人权组织在参与激进主义活动时考虑并可能打击个人人权观念与国家行动之间的脱节的必要性。我发现生活在个人人权水平较高的州的个人更有可能对其所在州的人权表现持负面看法。最后，我发现来自有过政治暴力历史的国家的个人更有可能表现出对其国家人权实践的夸大看法。这些调查结果阐明了人权组织在参与激进主义活动时考虑并可能打击个人人权观念与国家行动之间的脱节的必要性。我发现生活在个人人权水平较高的州的个人更有可能对其所在州的人权表现持负面看法。最后，我发现来自有过政治暴力历史的国家的个人更有可能表现出对其国家人权实践的夸大看法。这些调查结果阐明了人权组织在参与激进主义活动时考虑并可能打击个人人权观念与国家行动之间的脱节的必要性。