Focusing illusions even distort our judgments about ourselves. In another study, some college students were asked, “How happy are you?” and then “How many dates did you have last month?” The researchers found a pretty weak correlation between the level of happiness and the number of dates. But then (hilariously) the researchers flipped the order of the two questions. Suddenly, there was a strong correlation. Having just confessed to a lack of dates, students reported that their lives were joyless.
