New research from Michigan State University finds that people often project their own levels of cynicism — the belief that people are only interested in themselves and aren’t sincere — onto their friends and consistently underestimate their friends’ cynicism, which could have implications for maintaining friendships.
In the study, 173 pairs of friends reported on both their own cynicism and how cynical they thought their friend was. A statistical approach was then used to examine whether people saw their friends accurately and positively, or if they simply assumed their friends were similar to themselves.
The study found that participants were somewhat accurate in judging how cynical their friends were but consistently reported that their friends were more benevolent and prosocial than they actually were. It also found that participants who were highly cynical also perceived their friends to be cynical.