Not everyone agrees with you, sorry.
As social beings with a drive for companionship, it is expected that we will hope and determine that others will agree with our thoughts, views and statements, however, this appears to rarely be the case.
in 1977 Lee Ross, a professor at Stanford University set out to study how individuals can create a ‘false consensus’ for themselves, where they believe that others will agree with them and will therefore often ascribe this to others. In order to achieve this, he conducted two studies.
Procedure (study one):
Participants read an extract detailing a conflict that had occurred, they then were told of two different responses to the conflict and were asked:
Which option they would choose
Which option others would choose
To describe the characteristics of the individuals who would choose one response, and then the characteristics of the individuals who would choose the other.
What did study one show?
No matter which response the individuals showed, the majority of participants predicted that others would agree with them, supporting that the ‘false consensus effect’ is a real phenomenon. Secondly, when asked to describe the two different groups of individuals, they often described the ‘outgroup’ (those who would likely choose the response the participant did not) with negative terms. This shows how we can sometimes create a somewhat bubble for ourselves where we can positively evaluate and appreciate those who agree with us (as we believe our worldview to be the right one) but sometimes belittle those who not to safeguard our worldview.
Procedure (study two)
Participants were asked to walk around the campus of the university wearing a sandwich board which read ‘Eat at Joe’s’, to incentivise this they were reassured that they would learn something new during this. So here, Ross is measuring opinions on the decisions of others.
What did study two show?
The results of study two reinforced the results of study one. Of those who agreed to do the task, roughly 62% predicted that others would do the same. Of those who chose to not do the task, 33% believed others would agree to. This shows how we are more likely to assume that others would agree with our choices. Furthermore, the pattern of positively evaluating those who agree with us and negatively evaluating those who do not, was continued.
So, the work of Lee Ross appears to show important trends in the way we view ourselves and others. I believe that the results are important in showcasing how we can sometimes create echo-chambers for ourselves and never challenge our way of thinking or making decisions, leaving ourselves in a rut and often preventing growth. Therefore, I think the main lesson that can be derived from this is to delve more into opposing thoughts and opinions, to open up to debate and criticism, because surrounding ourselves with only those who agree with us will most likely prevent us from learning. Also - not to be dramatic - but a lack of debate and challenge has been proven to be responsible for multiple atrocities in history (amongst other factors) such as The Holocaust, The Guyana tragedy and more.
Challenge: research into an opposing view on a topic you care about. Tell me how it goes!


















