False Consensus Effect
Definition
The false consensus effect is a cognitive bias where individuals overestimate the extent to which their opinions, beliefs, preferences, values and habits are normal and typical of those of others.
Analogy
Imagine going to a party wearing your favorite band’s t-shirt assuming everyone there will love them too because they're your favorite. That's the false consensus effect - believing more people share our views than actually do.
Related terms
Confirmation Bias: The tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions.
Social Projection: The process where humans assume others share the same beliefs or values they do themselves.
Cognitive Bias: Systematic errors in thinking that affect the decisions and judgments that people make.
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