Exercise: Evolution/creationism poll

Gil7
Maintaining false beliefs: The imagined agreement of others A systematic defect in our ability to estimate the beliefs of others Within limits, it is ustifiable to let beliefs of others influence our beliefs! ""mores # norms of society are $hat others believe %o$ever, $e tend to overestimate the extent to $hich others hold the same beliefs as us pro ection & 'per (reud) displacing our fears, desires, # beliefs onto others false consensus effect & a special case of pro ection: assume others share our beliefs $ell"documented tendency of drin*ers to estimate that more people drin*, in greater +uantities than is the case! ,eetotalers do opposite! ,his is a -E.A,/0E effect 1 $e don2t necessarily assume M34, people agree, but do over"estimate ho$ many do! Causes of the false-consensus effect 56 Motivational 1 $e $ant to believe our beliefs are supported ""$e also assume more intelligent, popular, or even attractive people agree 76 4ocial exposure ""$e tend to associate $ith people $ho share our beliefs ""$e also tend to read/listen to/$atch media that shares our biases 86 We tend to thin* our beliefs are based on evidence etc! # so assume others are a$are of the same ""also $e tend to thin* our behaviors are due to external elements and so others exposed to the same $ill behave the same! 9heaters tend to overestimate : of others $ho cheat ;6 Ambiguity ""$e resolve ambiguous +uestions according to our o$n understanding, and assume most others share this definition <li*e self"based definitions in chapter =6 Why dont we notice that others disagree? 56 We avoid confrontation

9onfrontation is unpleasant, so $hy provo*e it> 76 ?oliteness of adult society tells us not to challenge other2s beliefs in most social situations <@on2t discuss religion or politics at the tableA6 ""Bil thin*s this accounts to some degree for the gossip that often follo$s larger discussions! /t discharges pent"up dissent