On the Perception of Social Consensus

Abstract

Humans, as social creatures continually perceive others and predict what others think, feel, and, most importantly, what they will do. Various branches of social psychology have addressed questions posed by this basic need for prediction and in specific about impression formation, interpersonal relations, and group stereotypes. It is noted that social perceptions and predictions must be reasonably accurate to be effective. Perceptions of the social world can become destructive if they are grossly distorted. Perceiver's own behavior, values, or their visual perspective uniquely affect their judgments. Such egocentric variations underscore the subjectivity of social perception. This chapter aims to examine these egocentric distortions in perceptions of social consensus. The perception of social consensus is the idea that the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others are similar to one's own. The chapter provides a brief review of the history of projection research, which establishes that the interest in this phenomenon is old and has intrigued investigators of differing theoretical persuasions.