BHAN332 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Pluralistic Ignorance, Cognitive Dissonance
11 Jan 2017
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Pluralistic ignorance: situation when majority of a group privately reject a norm, but incorrectly assume that most others accept it, ex: bullying, hazing, bystander effect. False consensus: ex: dating, believing that others are similar when they are not, overestimation of commonness and one"s attitudes. Majority is silent because it thinks it"s the minority; minority is vocal. Pluralistic ignorance and false consensus reinforce each other because they think they are majority. Misperceptions: overestimate unhealthy behavior and underestimate healthy behaviors, ex: most college students overestimate the alcohol use of their peers, overestimation results in most moderate or light drinkers to consume more than they would otherwise. Rationalization: misperceptions lead to rationalizing unhealthy behavior; suppress. Believability: works best when individuals identify with close groups (ie. sport, introduce widely held beliefs and suggest truth is different from popular thought.
