RABBIE Burns may have been right:Scots are awash with foolish notions and we lack the gift to see ourselves as others see us.

A major survey by Ipsos MORI has confirmed the Bard's famous musing by revealing that the perceptions Scots hold about prominent social issues are often wildly out of kilter with reality.

In one striking example, it has emerged attitudes about teenage pregnancy showed that Scots believe eight times as many women and girls aged 15-19 give birth each year as actually do.

READ MORE: Psychologist Cynthia McVey on why our perceptions can be so out of kilter with reality

By contrast, obesity levels are significantly under-estimated: with respondents saying less than half the population are obese or overweight when the true scale is nearly two-thirds.

Meanwhile the public inflated how common mental health problems are, judging them to be twice as prevalent as they are.

Emily Gray, managing director of Ipsos MORI Scotland, said misperceptions tend to reflect the issues people are most worried about.

“The more we see coverage of an issue, the more prevalent we think it is,” she said.

“We are often most incorrect on issues that are widely discussed in the media or highlighted as challenges facing our society, such as teenage pregnancy, immigration and mental health."

Reasons for the errors could include struggling with maths and proportions, distorted media coverage of issues, or there could be psychological explanations for biased overestimates of problems like teen pregnancy, Ms Gray said.

Ipsos MORI said the Perils of Perception survey highlights how large the gap is between people’s ideas about key features of Scotland’s population and the reality.

Herald View: Why we must be better informed on today’s realities

Among its other findings, it showed people have little grasp of what proportion of society is sufficiently well off to pay top rates of tax, and how much they contribute, but are realistic about the problems caused by drinking.

Asked about teen pregnancy, the Scottish public estimated that 24 per cent of women and girls aged 15-19 – almost a quarter – give birth each year. The actual figure is 3.2 per cent.

Asked to say how many adults in Scotland have one or more symptoms of depression, respondents estimated 41 per cent of people aged 16 or over have at least one symptom – but the actual figure is 19.

The survey suggested young people overestimate the figure more than old people do, which Ipsos/MORI Scotland suggests may indicate the success of high profile mental health campaigns aimed at young people.

READ MORE: Psychologist Cynthia McVey on why our perceptions can be so out of kilter with reality

Asked how many people are overweight or obese, the public judged 46 per cent, instead of the true figure of 65 per cent. Although this mirrors findings in other countries, where levels of obesity are also underestimated, Ipsos/MORI says Scotland is among the places where people are “most wrong” about the figure.

Scots also have significant confusion over who contributes to the exchequer and how much. Those surveyed believed nearly a third of tax-payers (29 per cent) earn enough to pay higher rates of income tax, when the real figure is only eight per cent.

Meanwhile the public thinks these taxpayers provide around 29 per cent of the income tax ‘take’ when in fact it is 60 per cent.

Mrs Gray said: “We also underestimate key challenges such as obesity.

"We are perhaps not as worried as we should be, given the extent to which the Scottish population is overweight.”

The survey’s findings could provide lessons for public policy, she said, in a context where finance secretary Derek Mackay has recently made changes to the tax system affecting higher rate tax payers.

“On income tax we think that more people are higher earners than is actually the case, but underestimate how much tax this group contributes.

"Modest changes to the tax system mean higher earners in Scotland will pay more income tax than those elsewhere in the UK for the first time.

“The results point to a need for people to be sufficiently informed about taxation to hold government to account: since we underestimate how much higher earners contribute to Scotland’s tax take, we may also misjudge what difference this and any future policy changes will make.”

READ MORE: Psychologist Cynthia McVey on why our perceptions can be so out of kilter with reality

The findings were based on phone interviews with 1008 people in Scotland carried out in November and December last year.