Sources of Biases and Errors in Attribution - False Consensus Effect

When all the people agree to a proposal or decision, it is called consensus.

• False consensus effect is the tendency to believe that others share our opinions, behaviors, or judgments.
• It is an egocentric bias that leads to wrong attributions in social perception.
• People think their own responses are common and correct, while alternative views are uncommon.
• This bias is caused by cognitive and perceptual mechanisms.
• According to Kelley, low consensus leads to dispositional attribution, while high consensus leads to situational attribution (when consistency and distinctiveness are also high).