The role of egocentrism in judgmental biases in social comparison under shared circumstances

Abstract

People sometimes judge that shared adversities and benefits (factors that would generally hinder or help the absolute performance of all competitors) have a more intense effect on their own success or failure, relative to those of others. Two experiments were conducted to test whether this bias, in direct comparison, results from egocentrism, and if so, how it works in comparative judgmental processes. In Study 1, participants tended to focus more on their own benefit and adversity, than those of peers, when they make a direct comparative judgment. In Study 2, participants showed this bias even when their absolute judgments on themselves, as well as on their peers were balanced. Furthermore, the effect size of this bias dissipated when they made a direct comparative judgment after undergoing an indirect, but it was still significant. The role of egocentrism in making social comparative judgments under shared circumstances was discussed.View full abstract