False-Uniqueness Effect

Psychologists Snyder and Shneckel introduced the "illusion of uniqueness" in 1975 to describe how people wrongly believe they differ from others. The modern term "false-uniqueness effect" was coined by researchers Jerry Suls and Choi K. Wan in their 1987–88 studies, which demonstrated that people with low self-reported fears or healthy behaviors systematically underestimated how many peers shared those traits. The bias serves a self-esteem function: believing one's positive qualities are rare helps maintain a favorable self-image. It's the inverse of the false consensus effect.