Can confirm. Just like with many other types of research. It's part of our culture to exaggerate and be deceptive. It is how our politics, our government, our culture, our business, and how our economy as a whole function. Before I get a bunch of "everyone does it", the reality is that those who we should aspire to compare ourselves to are quite remarkably different regarding that characteristic. But go right ahead, compare America to all the dysfunctional, corrupt, fraying societies of the world. I choose to look up, rather than down.
Edit: I would like to point to the following story in the HN feed regarding Germany's election as a point of reference that things don't have to be the way that we think they are. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6283280
Edit: I would like to point to the following story in the HN feed regarding Germany's election as a point of reference that things don't have to be the way that we think they are. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6283280