mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

People will agree what I think: Investigating LLM's False Consensus Effect

arXiv 2407.12007 ↗First posted 16 Jun 2024cs.HC cs.AI cs.CLcited by 0

On the map: LLM reasoning → Reasoning benchmarks and evaluation

Abstract (arXiv)

Large Language Models (LLMs) have been recently adopted in interactive systems requiring communication. As the false belief in a model can harm the usability of such systems, LLMs should not have cognitive biases that humans have. Psychologists especially focus on the False Consensus Effect (FCE), a cognitive bias where individuals overestimate the extent to which others share their beliefs or behaviors, because FCE can distract smooth communication by posing false beliefs. However, previous studies have less examined FCE in LLMs thoroughly, which needs more consideration of confounding biases, general situations, and prompt changes. Therefore, in this paper, we conduct two studies to examine the FCE phenomenon in LLMs. In Study 1, we investigate whether LLMs have FCE. In Study 2, we explore how various prompting styles affect the demonstration of FCE. As a result of these studies, we identified that popular LLMs have FCE. Also, the result specifies the conditions when FCE becomes more or less prevalent compared to normal usage.

Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Reasoning benchmarks and evaluation, one of 17 directions in LLM reasoning. Builds on 14 of its 39 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 16 Jun 2024.

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14 of 39 references.

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  1. 2024(Ir)rationality and Cognitive Biases in Large Language Models14 Feb

Other references · 13

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  5. 2021BBQ: A Hand-Built Bias Benchmark for Question Answeringcited by 683
  6. 2023Benchmarking Cognitive Biases in Large Language Models as Evaluatorscited by 147
  7. 2024Cognitive Bias in Decision-Making with LLMscited by 104
  8. 2024Embodied LLM Agents Learn to Cooperate in Organized Teamscited by 81
  9. 2024Can Large Language Model Agents Simulate Human Trust Behavior?cited by 62
  10. 2023Instructed to Bias: Instruction-Tuned Language Models Exhibit Emergent Cognitive Biascited by 51
  11. 2024Addressing cognitive bias in medical language modelscited by 34
  12. 2023Challenging the appearance of machine intelligence: Cognitive bias in LLMs and Best Practices for Adoptioncited by 21
1 more
  1. 2024Do Language Models Exhibit the Same Cognitive Biases in Problem Solving as Human Learners?cited by 19

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