Survey Results – 4A

False Consensus Effect – 1B You all answered “YES” or “NO” to 10 questions. You were then supposed to estimate the percentage of your classmates that you thought would answer “YES.” The False Consensus Effect is demonstrated IF people overestimated the percentage that would agree with them – those who answered yes thought more people would also answer yes, and vice versa.

Question 1 Are you more attracted to “sensible” people than to “imaginative” people? In reality, 55% of you answered YES. On average, those who answered YES thought 62% of their classmates would also answer YES, which was an overestimate. In reality, 45% of you answered NO. On average, those who answered NO thought 57% of their classmates would also answer NO, which was an overestimate. Those answering YES & NO demonstrated the False Consensus Effect.

Question 2 Would you rather write a paper than take an exam? In reality, 34% of you answered YES. On average, those who answered YES thought 62% of their classmates would also answer YES, which was an overestimate. In reality, 66% of you answered NO. On average, those who answered NO thought 51% of their classmates would also answer NO, which was an underestimate. Those answering YES demonstrated the False Consensus Effect.

Question 3 If you and a same-sex friend were sharing a pizza, and only a large slice and a small slice remained, and you were still rather hungry, would you offer the larger slice to your friend? In reality, 52% of you answered YES. On average, those who answered YES thought 60% of their classmates would also answer YES, which was an overestimate. In reality, 48% of you answered NO. On average, those who answered NO thought 61% of their classmates would also answer NO, which was an overestimate. Those answering YES & NO demonstrated the False Consensus Effect.

Question 4 Do you enjoy analyzing the causes for people’s behavior? In reality, 79% of you answered YES. On average, those who answered YES thought 49% of their classmates would also answer YES, which was an underestimate. In reality, 21% of you answered NO. On average, those who answered NO thought 49% of their classmates would also answer NO, which was an overestimate. Those answering NO demonstrated the False Consensus Effect.

Question 5 Have you ever stolen anything, even something very small? In reality, 70% of you answered YES. On average, those who answered YES thought 78% of their classmates would also answer YES, which was a slight overestimate. In reality, 30% of you answered NO. On average, those who answered NO thought 54% of their classmates would also answer NO, which was an overestimate. Those answering YES & NO demonstrated the False Consensus Effect.

Question 6 Do you give blood at least once every two years? In reality, 7% of you answered YES. On average, those who answered YES thought 41% of their classmates would also answer YES, which was an overestimate. In reality, 93% of you answered NO. On average, those who answered NO thought 63% of their classmates would also answer NO, which was an underestimate. Those answering YES demonstrated the False Consensus Effect.

Question 7 Do you like desserts that are very dense and very sweet? In reality, 66% of you answered YES. On average, those who answered YES thought 63% of their classmates would also answer YES, which was slight underestimate. In reality, 34% of you answered NO. On average, those who answered NO thought 45% of their classmates would also answer NO, which was an overestimate. Those answering NO demonstrated the False Consensus Effect.

Question 8 Do you like soccer? In reality, 63% of you answered YES. On average, those who answered YES thought 51% of their classmates would also answer YES, which was an underestimate. In reality, 37% of you answered NO. On average, those who answered NO thought 52% of their classmates would also answer NO, which was an overestimate. Those answering NO demonstrated the False Consensus Effect.

Question 9 If you had the opportunity to cheat on an exam in a course you did not like, and you could be assured of not getting caught, would you cheat? In reality, 66% of you answered YES. On average, those who answered YES thought 84% of their classmates would also answer YES, which was an overestimate. In reality, 34% of you answered NO. On average, those who answered NO thought 44% of their classmates would also answer NO, which was an overestimate. Those answering YES & NO both demonstrated the False Consensus Effect.

Question 10 Do you like having to get very dressed up for special events? In reality, 62% of you answered YES. On average, those who answered YES thought 51% of their classmates would also answer YES, which was an underestimate. In reality, 38% of you answered NO. On average, those who answered NO thought 44% of their classmates would also answer NO, which was an overestimate. Those answering NO demonstrated the False Consensus Effect.

Fundamental Attribution Error (Quiz Show) You all watched while I randomly picked two participants, and randomly assigned them to “quiz master” or “contestant” and instruct the “quiz master” to write 5 challenging questions from his/her own store of general knowledge. Since either participant could have been the quiz master, the results of the “quiz show” say nothing about either participant’s level of general knowledge, only that the two have DIFFERENT stores of knowledge. So, logically, both participants should have been rated equally on levels of general knowledge. But according to the fundamental attribution error, we focus on personal causes for behavior rather than situational influences.

Results Quiz Master’s score (by you) on general knowledge: 7.9 (out of 10) Contestant’s score (by you) on general knowledge: 4.1 (out of 10) The Quiz Master even rated him/herself higher in general knowledge than the Contestant… by 7 points! But wait… even the Contestant rated him/herself lower in general knowledge than the Quiz Master… by 6 points!

Actor-Observer Effect You filled out three identical surveys – one on yourself, one on a friend, and one on a teacher – where you were asked to describe each person’s personality with a series of adjectives. For each question, you could choose one of two specific and opposite adjectives, or you could choose “depends on the situation.” The actor-observer effect predicts that we tend to make situational attributions to explain our own behavior, but personal attribution to explain the behavior of others. Why do you think this is?

Results For the actor-observer effect to be demonstrated, the average number of times you marked “depends on the situation” for YOURSELF would be higher than the number of times you marked it for a friend, which would be higher than the number of times you marked it for a teacher. This is because you have the most information about yourself, and more about a friend than a teacher. Number of times (average) that you marked “depends on the situation” for: Self: 8.5 Friend: 5.5 Teacher: 4.3