Americans and Brazilians mostly agree on economic systems, just not on labels

Most Americans appear deeply divided over socialism and capitalism, with Democrats generally reporting positive views of socialism and Republicans generally reporting negative ones. A new study in Nature Communications argues that this apparent ideological chasm is largely an illusion of labeling rather than a genuine disagreement about how the economy should work.

Lucas Woodley and Joshua D. Greene report the finding across five studies with a total of 1,753 participants, including four pre-registered experiments with 1,640 participants. In Studies 1 through 4, the researchers found that Americans broadly supported a hybrid economic system combining elements of capitalism and socialism. The key twist was in the labels: people endorsed the same basic arrangement but called it “capitalist” or “socialist” depending on their own political ideology, suggesting the conflict is more about naming than substance.

The experiments also tested whether making this hidden agreement visible could change political attitudes. When the researchers highlighted the shared values beneath the labels, participants perceived smaller differences between the political groups and became more receptive to policies proposed by the opposing party. The intervention also increased support for outparty candidates whose platforms included a social safety net providing everyone with food, clean water, basic healthcare and shelter; investments in public education and skills-development programs; a progressive tax system; and regulations ensuring that free markets protect consumers and the environment.

These effects were statistically significant for both Republicans and Democrats, and they persisted for at least one month after the intervention, indicating that the shift was not merely a fleeting reaction measured moments after exposure.

To test whether the pattern extended beyond the United States, the team conducted a fifth study in Brazil. There, too, Brazilians largely agreed on a shared economic system while applying different ideological labels to it depending on their political leanings. The replication in a second country suggests the phenomenon may not be unique to American partisan culture, although the published abstract describes the Brazilian result as a replication of the same pattern rather than a full experimental test of the interventions.

The authors frame the work as evidence that some partisan divides may be reduced by revealing hidden agreement about the fundamental economic structure of society. Because the reported experiments were conducted with survey participants in the United States and Brazil, the findings describe measured attitudes in those populations rather than outcomes of implemented policy, and the article notes that the version shared is subject to further editorial edits before the final version of record.

For readers following debates over economic ideology, the study’s central message is that the loudest disagreements may rest on terminology: when the underlying system is described in concrete terms, people across the political spectrum in both countries endorsed substantially similar arrangements, differing mainly in what they chose to call it.

Subject of Research: Perceived partisan disagreement over socialism and capitalism in the United States and Brazil

Article Title: Illusory disagreement over socialism and capitalism in the United States and Brazil

Article References: Woodley, L., & Greene, J. D. (2026). Illusory disagreement over socialism and capitalism in the United States and Brazil. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-78853-7

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-78853-7

Keywords: political psychology, socialism, capitalism, partisanship, economic systems, intergroup perception, United States, Brazil, pre-registered experiments, Nature Communications, public opinion, ideology