Poster Title (Current Submission)
The Better/Worse Than Average Effect: Role of Response Scales and Referent Cohesiveness
Major(s)
Psychology
Minor(s)
Chemistry
Mentor Name
Jerry Suls
Mentor Department
Psychology
Abstract
The Better/Worse Than Average Effect refers to the tendency to judge a randomly selected member of a set of positive/negative category exemplars as more superior/inferior than the rest. Two studies were conducted involving movie ratings and the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) to assess the role of focalism or generalized group processes and the role of response scales. The results showed that focalism was the main source of the effect; type of response scale did not influence the bias. Results have implications for stereotyping and decision making.
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The Better/Worse Than Average Effect: Role of Response Scales and Referent Cohesiveness
The Better/Worse Than Average Effect refers to the tendency to judge a randomly selected member of a set of positive/negative category exemplars as more superior/inferior than the rest. Two studies were conducted involving movie ratings and the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) to assess the role of focalism or generalized group processes and the role of response scales. The results showed that focalism was the main source of the effect; type of response scale did not influence the bias. Results have implications for stereotyping and decision making.