PSY 250 - Demo Fall, 2014
Sawusch
1
Research Demonstration: The False Consensus Effect
In science, we emphasize systematic, careful observation as a key to overcoming the
limits of other methods of acquiring knowledge. That is, we trust systematic
observation more than we trust our own intuition. We can actually investigate this
issue. The following description provides you with the details necessary to conduct a
simple study to investigate the accuracy of human intuitions.
We often believe that others are more like ourselves than they really are. Thus, our predictions
about others' beliefs or behaviors, based on casual observation, are very likely to err in the
direction of our own beliefs or behavior. For example, college students who preferred brown bread
estimated that over 50% of all other college students preferred brown bread, while white-bread
eaters estimated that 37% showed brown bread preference (Ross, Greene, & House, 1977). This is
known as the false consensus effect (Ross et al., 1977; Mullen, Atkins, Champion, Edwards,
Hardy, Story, & Vanderlok, 1985). The false consensus effect provides the basis for the following
demonstration, which emphasizes the need for systematic rather than casual observation.
You can use the set of six questions, below, to investigate this. Before describing the false
consensus effect, have friends, roommates or classmates (other classes, not PSY250) answer the
questions listed below. Next, have students predict the UB undergraduate mean for each
question. Keep a record of the responses for each person who participates. According to the false
consensus effect, students' predictions about the UB mean should be influenced by their own
positions. Consequently, a student whose position is below the UB mean is likely to make a
prediction that will be below the UB mean as well.
There are ethical constraints on the use of human participants that you must follow if
you wish to try this with people.
1. Do not collect any identifying information on your participants. The answers to these
questions (data) should be anonymous. Even though you may know the person, do NOT record
any identifying information.
2. When you ask someone to participate, explain the basic nature of the study. You want
to ask people how often they do certain things, like laundry, and how often they think other UB
undergrads do these same things. You are doing this as part of a class on learning the scientific
method. If they participate, they will be asked to answer six questions about themselves and also
about other UB undergraduates. They can choose not to answer any question. Tell your
prospective participant that all answers are recorded anonymously and no information identifying
them is being recorded.
3. If they indicate that they are willing, ask the questions or let them read them. You can
do this either way. The questions appear below on a separate page for your use.
4. Afterward, thank your participant. Explain to them that your study is looking at how
people estimate how often others do various tasks and whether these estimates are influenced by
how often they do these same tasks.
