Attitude Importance and the False Consensus Effect

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated that the attitudes people consider personally important have an enhanced impact on cognition and behavior. This article explores the possibility that importance may regulate the magnitude of the false consensus effect as well. The authors report on six experiments that involved a variety of subject samples (college students and the general population), data collection methods (telephone interviewing and selJ-administered questionnaires), and political issues (e.g., abortion, gun control, defense spending). Meta analyses summarizing the results of 12 tests revealed a strong false consensus effect but no reliable relation between its magnitude and attitude importance. These results are inconsistent with the assumption that the false consensus effect is a result of attitudes directly or indirectly influencing perceptions of others, and they lend support to explanations of the false consensus effect that posit other mechanisms (i.e., attribution and object construal).