Cognitive Representations of Dyadic Relationships: Determinants, Reciprocity, and Egocentric Bias

This study focuses on cognitive representations of one’s own and others’ dyadic relationships and tests the principle that there is a self-serving bias in the assessment of them. Not only do people believe they are superior to other individuals on many psychological dimensions, called egocentric bias, they also believe that their dyadic relationships with others are superior. Participants, called key persons, were brought into the laboratory, and instructed to select three family members and three friends that they know well, and who also know one another within groups but not across groups. After doing so, participants made ratings of their own and others’ dyadic relationships. This study concluded that key persons believe that listening quality is increased when they are present within the dyad, both as a speaker and as a listener. From this, we indicate possible future directions of study, as well as potential explanations for such a phenomenon