Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original communications

Non diagnostic information and the effects of context evaluation in the moderation of False Consensus

1The author expresses his appreciation to Stephan Kraitsowits and anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier versions of this article.

Published Online:September 01, 2006https://doi.org/10.1024//1421-0185.58.1.12

Abstract

The hypothesis that non-diagnostic information about consensus may reduce False Consensus (FC) was tested in a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design. Eighty nine participants were told that they were to be assessed on their judgement expertise in impression formation. First, half of the participants were led to believe that, during a vigilance task they had performed, they had been exposed to consensus information about the opinion of their peers towards a specific target person. The other half received no information. Subjects had then to complete two questionnaires. An attitude questionnaire assessed subjects' attitude towards the target (favourable or not favourable), deduced from their predictions of the target's answers. In a consensus questionnaire the subjects had to make percentage estimates. The order for completing the two questionnaires was counterbalanced. Finally, subjects were asked to indicate their personal confidence as to their consensus estimates. Results provided direct evidence for a decrease in FC when subjects were informed about their exposure to consensus information, and an increase in FC when they were not informed. Decrease in FC is linked to situational characteristics which cause subjects to question the reliability of their estimates and to take into account data that are not solely related to the self.

References

  • Agostinelli, G. , Sherman, S. J. , Presson, C. C. , Chassin, L. (1992). Self protection and self-enhancement biases in estimates of population prevalence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 631– 642. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bargh, J. A. (1989). Conditional automaticity: Varieties of automatic influence in social perception and cognition. In J. S. Uleman & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended thought. New-York, Guilford. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Baron, R. M. , Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173– 1182. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baumeister, R. F. (1982). A self-presentational view of social phenomena. Psychological Bulletin, 91, 3– 26. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Byzman, A. , Yinon, Y. , Vizgardiski, N. (1993). False consensus among middle-eastern and western israeli students. Journal of Social Psychology, 133, 539– 546. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bosveld, W. , Koomen, W. , Van der Pligt, J. P. (1994). Selective exposure and the false consensus effect: The availability of similar and dissimilar others. British Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 457– 466. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bosveld, W. , Koomen, W. , Van der Pligt, J. P. (1996). Estimating group size: Effects of category membership, differential construal and selective exposure. European Journal of Social Psycchology, 26, 523– 535. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Brown, J. D. (1986). Evaluations of self and others. Self-enhancement biases in social judgement. Social Cognition, 4, 353– 376. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Conover, W. J. (1971). Practical nonparametric statistics. New York: Wiley. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Devine, P. G. (1989). Stereotypes and prejudice: their automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 5– 18. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gilbert, D. T. , Osborne, R. E. (1989). Thinking backward: some curable and incurable consequences of cognitive busyness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 940– 949. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Goethals, G. R. (1986). Fabricating and ignoring social reality: Self serving estimates of consensus. In J. Olson, C. P. Herman & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), Relative deprivation and social comparison: The ontario symposium on social cognition. New York, Hillsdale (NJ), Erlbaum 4, 137– 157. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Goethals, G. R. , Allison, S. J. , Frost, M. (1979). Perception of the magnitude and diversity of social support. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 15, 570– 581. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hoch, S. J. (1987). Perceived consensus and predictive accuracy: The pros and cons of projection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 221– 234. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Krosnick, J. A. (1989). Attitude importance and attitude accessibility. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 15, 297– 308. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kulik, J. A. , Taylor, S. E. (1980). Premature consensus on consensus? Effects of sample-based versus self-based consensus information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 871– 878. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Leyens, J. P. , Yzerbyt, V. Y. , Schadron, G. (1992). The social judgeability approach to stereotypes. In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European Review of Social Psychology. New York, Wiley Vol. 3, p. 91– 120. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Marks, G. , Duval, S. (1991). Availability of alternative positions and estimates of consensus. British Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 179– 183. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Marks, G. , Miller, N. (1987). Ten years of research on the false-consensus effect: An empirical and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 102, 72– 90. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Miller, N. , Gross, S. , Holtz, R. (1991). Social projection and attitudinal certainty. In J. Suls et T. A. Wills, (Eds.), Social comparison: Contemporary theory and research.(177-209) New Jersey, Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate Publishers. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Monteil (1993). Soi et le contexte. Paris: Armand Colin. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Mullen, B. , Chapman, J. G. , Peaugh, S. (1990). Focus of attention in groups: A self-attention perspective. The Journal of Social Psychology, 129, 807– 817. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mullen, B. , Driskell, J. E. , Smith, C. (1989). Availability and social projection: The effects of sequence measurement and wording of question on estimates of consensus. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 15, 84– 90. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mullen, B. , Hu, L. (1989). Social projection as a function of cognitive mechanisms: Two meta-analytic integrations. British Journal of Social Psychology, 27, 333– 356. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Pyszczinski, T. , Greenberg, J. (1987). Toward an integration of cognitive and motivational perspective on social inference: A biased hypothesis-testing model. In L. Berkowitz, (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology.(Vol. 20, 177-209). San Diego: Academic press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Ross, L. , Greene, D. , House, P. (1977). The false consensus effect: An egocentric bias in perception and attribution processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 279– 301. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schadron, G. , Yzerbyt, V. Y. , Leyens, J. P. , Rocher, S. (1994). Jugeabilité sociale et stéréotypes: l'estimation de l'origine d'une impression comme déterminant de l'impact des stéréotypes dans le jugement social. Revue Internationale de Psychologie Sociale, 7, 53– 71. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Smith, S. H. , Whitehead, G. I. (1988). The public and private use of consensus-raising excuses. Journal of Personality, 56, 355– 371. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Tversky, A. , Kahneman, D. (1973). Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency and probability. Cognitive Psychology, 5, 207– 232. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Verlhiac, J. F. (in press) L'Effet de Faux Consensus: une revue empirique et théorique. L'Année Psychologique. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Verlhiac, J. F. , Milhabet, I. (1997). Effet de Faux Consensus et focalisation de l'attention. Congrès de la Société Française de Psychologie, Nice. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Yinon, Y. , Mayraz, A. , Fox, S. (1994). Age and the false consensus effect. The Journal of Social Psychology, 134, 717– 725. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Yzerbyt, V. Y. , Schadron, G. , Leyens, J. P. , Rocher, S. (1994). Social judgeability: The impact of meta-information and cues on the use of stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 48– 55. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Zuckerman, M. , Mann, R. W. (1979). The other way around: Effects of causal attributions on estimates of consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 15, 582– 597. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Zuckerman, M. , Mann, R. W. , Bernieri, F. J. (1982). Determinants of consensus estimates: Attribution, salience, and representativeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 839– 852. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar