Misery Has More Company Than People Think: Underestimating the Prevalence of Others’ Negative Emotions
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Four studies document underestimations of the prevalence of others’ negative emotions and suggest causes and correlates of these erroneous perceptions. In Study 1a, participants reported that their negative emotions were more private or hidden than were their positive emotions; in Study 1b, participants underestimated the peer prevalence of common negative, but not positive, experiences described in Study 1a. In Study 2, people underestimated negative emotions and overestimated positive emotions even for well-known peers, and this effect was partially mediated by the degree to which those peers reported suppression of negative (vs. positive) emotions. Study 3 showed that lower estimations of the prevalence of negative emotional experiences predicted greater loneliness and rumination and lower life satisfaction and that higher estimations for positive emotional experiences predicted lower life satisfaction. Taken together, these studies suggest that people may think they are more alone in their emotional difficulties than they really are.
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Individuals who experience higher levels of FoMO want to feel as if they belong in their social settings, express higher levels of social envy, and experience feelings that they are being socially excluded.
“Individuals who experience higher levels of FoMO want to feel as if they belong in their social settings, express higher levels of social envy, and experience feelings that they are being socially excluded [54,61].”
From Fear of missing out, social media influencers, and the social, psychological and financial wellbeing of young consumers (2025) · cites this paper as [61]
The General Discussion section, “Distorted Perceptions of Peers’ Social Lives” (page unavailable), links underestimating peers’ negative emotions with greater loneliness. Our copy does not address FoMO or establish that people with higher FoMO have a stronger desire to belong, greater social envy, or feelings of social exclusion; searches for those terms found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.74)
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References 54 · Cited by 182
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- Authors
- Jordan, A. H., Monin, B., Dweck, C. S., Lovett, B. J., John, O. P., & Gross, J. J.
- Affiliations
- Stanford University (US)
- Syracuse University (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- Jordan, Alexander H.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-12-22
- Volume
- 37
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 120-135
- ISSN
- 0146-1672 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7433
- PMC
- PMC4138214
- OpenAlex
- W2043364709
- Cited by
- 182
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 11.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH058147)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- emotional suppression, positive emotions, loneliness, rumination, life satisfaction, peer relationships
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Emotions, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Judgment, Peer Group, Personal Satisfaction, Quality of Life, Repression, Psychology, Social Values, Prevalence, Young Adult
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