Resolution of Meta-Accuracy

Abstract

Do people know when they can trust their metaperceptions (i.e., their beliefs about how they are seen)? The current study is the first to examine whether people can recognize which of their metaperceptions are more or less accurate, and it examines the source of this “resolution.” In two samples, we assessed meta-accuracy, or the degree to which people’s beliefs about the impressions they made corresponded to the actual impressions they made, for several close acquaintances (e.g., family, friends). We also assessed people’s confidence in the accuracy of their metaperceptions for each acquaintance. Results showed that people recognized when they were more or less “meta-accurate,” particularly in terms of the ways in which they were perceived as distinctive and unique individuals. This ability was partially driven by relationship quality. In sum, people seem to know when to trust their metaperceptions about individuals from their everyday lives.