DIFFERENTIAL CONSTRUAL AS AN EXPLANATION FOR FALSE CONSENSUS AND FALSE UNIQUENESS EFFECTS

As shown by Gilovich (1990), the False Consensus Effect (FCE, i.e., pe ople's tendency to relatively overestimate the commonness of their own position) can be the result of differential construal. The question a ddressed in the present research was whether differential construal re sults not only in a FCE but also in a False Uniqueness Effect (FUE, i. e., the relative underestimation of one's position). This may be due t o the match or mismatch between the positive or negative construal of a category and expectations associated with reference groups. Results of Study 1 showed that FCE's occurred for an ingroup and an outgroup f or which expectations matched positive construals. A FUE occurred in e stimates for an outgroup for which expectations matched negative const ruals. Study 2, using a different design, replicated these findings (C ) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.