Self-Focused Attention, Perspective-Taking, and False Consensus

A quasi-experimental study examined the effects of self-focused attention on acknowledging or ignoring others’ perspectives. University students scoring high vs. low in private and public self-focus estimated the opinion of a fellow student. For these estimates, a relevant cue for the fellow student’s most probable opinion was provided or not. The results replicate earlier studies that have demonstrated that attention focused on the self enhances perspective-taking and reduces egocentrism when a cue for others’ perspectives is provided: High private self-focus (self-awareness) turned out to further perspective-taking and, thus, to reduce egocentrism under the critical condition of a cue being presented for the other’s perspective. These results, as well as earlier research, contradict findings by Fenigstein and Abrams (1993) , which were interpreted as showing that self-focus enhances egocentrism in a false consensus paradigm.