Abstract:
How biased do people think they will be in the future? Prior research has shown that people perceive themselves as less biased than others and less biased than their past selves. The current study investigated perceived bias in the present self compared to the past and future selves. Participants estimated the level of bias in one of six conditions; past self, present self, present other, general future self, near specific future self, and distant specific future self. The study found that perceived bias was stable from present to distant future, perceived past bias was greater than perceived present bias, and that perceived other bias was greater than perceived self bias. Further, exploratory analyses showed that MTurk participants provided lower bias estimates than college participants, taking a psychology course increased bias estimates, trust in psychologists increased bias estimates, and desirability did not impact bias estimates. The meaning and implications of these findings are discussed in the document.
