December 16, 2016
We have just published a a series of studies in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showing that people (incorrectly) believe that they observe others more than others observe them. We call this the “Invisibility cloak illusion.” The illusion occurs among strangers and among friends. Additional recent research (not included in this first paper) shows the illusion even occurs in established romantic relationships. We present evidence that the illusion is not just another “better than average” bias nor is it obtained for thinking about objects rather than people. We’re now exploring the implications of this illusion for people’s social lives.