When people are given vague descriptions of themselves that could apply to anyone, they tend to feel shocked at how spot on the description was of their life. It explains why people get convinced by astrological readings and fortune tellers.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Egocentric bias is a memory distortion that involves enhancing our memories of the past. For example, an individual might remember scoring the winning goal in a soccer match when they actually only assisted.

Egocentric Bias

Aronson, Elliot, and Joshua Aronson. The Social Animal. Worth Publishers, Macmillan Learning, 2018.

The Social Animal

People are biased in thinking that their flaws are in the "social spotlight" more than they actually were (and more compared to other people).

Spotlight effect

On a typical day, human's tend to feel that we notice and observe others more than they observe ourselves. 

Cloak of invisibility illusion

The Barnum Effect

Ch.8 Memory - Psychology @ OpenStax

Implicit egotism is the psychological tendency for individuals to unconsciously prefer people, places, and things that share similarities with themselves.

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