Editing False consensus effect (section)

== Possible causes ==
There is no single cause for this cognitive bias; however, several underlying mechanisms have been suggested to contribute to its formation and maintenance. Previous research has suggested that cognitive and perceptional factors (motivated projection, accessibility of information, emotion, etc.) may contribute to the consensus bias, while recent studies have focused on its neural mechanisms. The bias may also result, at least in part, from non-social stimulus-reward associations.{{sfn|Tarantola|Kumaran|Dayan|De Martino|2017}} 

=== Cognitive Mechanisms ===
Cognitive mechanisms, such as the [[availability heuristic]], [[self-serving bias]], and [[naïve realism (psychology)|naïve realism]] have been suggested as at least partial underlying factors in the False Consensus Effect. The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut that people default to, in which people may incorrectly attribute the likelihood or commonness of something based on how cognitively available the concept is to them, or how quickly it comes to mind; this could contribute to the False Consensus Effect when individuals have a readily available concept, causing them to overestimate its commonality. Self-serving bias is an attribution error that describes the tendency to attribute successes and positive traits to one's own internal factors, and attribute failures or negative traits to the external environment. This can contribute to the False Consensus Effect by justifying our actions with self-serving bias, and consequently using the False Consensus Effect to reinforce that those actions were acceptable by believing our views are widely shared. [[naïve realism (psychology)|Naïve realism]] is the idealist belief that we perceive the world accurately, and individuals who disagree with our perceptions are incorrect or bias; this contributes to the False Consensus Effect by reinforcing that people who disagree with our view are part of the minority, whereas the majority still agrees with us.

=== Normative Social Influence ===
The False Consensus Effect can be partially attributed to the innate desire to conform and be liked by others in a [[social environment]] by sharing characteristics with members of a social group, within the parameters determined by the social environment; these parameters can be influenced by demographic factors, such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status, and cultural differences. The innate motivation to be liked is known as normative social influence,<ref>{{Cite web |title=University of Toronto Libraries |url=https://login.library.utoronto.ca/index.php?url=https://books.scholarsportal.info/uri/ebooks/ebooks4/taylorandfrancis4/2018-06-06/7/9781315290607 |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=library.utoronto.ca |language=en}}</ref> conceptualized by revolutionary social psychologist Solomon Asch in 1951. Normative social influence is a social and evolutionary function to share characteristics with a group, form a group identity, and benefit from the protection and resources of group membership. It can cause the False Consensus Effect by creating a social illusion - the need to be liked causes one to agree with others outwardly even if they disagree internally, creating a social illusion of collective agreement. Additionally, the False Consensus Effect is fundamentally a perceptual effect; normative social influence motivates individuals to agree with each other, potentially leading some to believe that everyone getting along socially means that everyone agrees. Normative social influence also leads to people feeling validated in their beliefs when they are not challenged, reinforcing the illusion of correctness and group cohesion.

=== Informational Social Influence ===
Another type of social pressure to conform is [[informational social influence]],{{sfn|Aronson|Wilson|Akert|Sommers|2015|p=231}}{{sfn|Bauman|Geher|2002|p=293}} also coined by Asch, that may contribute to the False Consensus Effect. This describes individuals' tendency to conform to a majority consensus out of the need to be correct; additionally, Asch posited that informational social influence is partially caused by people learning how to act within socially determined guidelines by perceiving others' behavior, allowing them to fall into the cohesive group identity. Maintenance of the False Consensus Effect may be related to the tendency to make decisions with relatively little information.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dawes |first=R.M. |title=The potential nonfalsity of the false consensus effect, Insights in decision making: A tribute to Hillel J. Einhorn |date=1 April 1990 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |pages=179–199}}</ref> When faced with uncertainty and a limited sample from which to make decisions, people often "project" themselves onto the situation. When this personal knowledge is used as input to make generalizations, it often results in the false sense of being part of the majority.{{sfn|Myers|2015|p=38}}