Feeling "holier than thou": Are self-serving assessments produced by errors in self- or social prediction?

People typically believe they are more likely to engage in selfless, kind, and generous behaviors than their peers, a result that is both logically an d statistically suspect. However, this oft-documented tendency presents an important ambiguity. Do people feel "holier than thou" because they harbor overly cynical views of their peers (but accurate impressions of themselves ) or overly charitable views of themselves land accurate impressions of the ir peers)? Four studies suggested it was;the latter. Participants consisten tly overestimated the likelihood that they would act in generous or selfles s ways, whereas their predictions of others were considerably more accurate . Two final studies suggest this divergence in accuracy arises, in part, be cause people are unwilling to consult population base rates when predicting their own behavior but use this diagnostic information more readily when p redicting others'.