Age and the False-Consensus Effect

Abstract

Israeli participants in four age groups (older adolescents, adults, residents of an old-age home, and older participants in a university program) answered a 12-item false-consensus questionnaire and Davis's (1980) Interpersonal Reactivity Index measuring empathy-egocentrism. The false-consensus effect (FCE) was found in all four age groups. The effect was significantly weaker among the older students, which was also the group lowest on egocentrism. Older adolescents were more egocentric than adults, who were less egocentric than residents of the old-age home, who were the highest on egocentrism. No correlation was found between the strength of the FCE and the egocentrism score.