Deborah Prentice
Social psychologist whose 1993 studies with Dale Miller showed students believing they were less comfortable with campus drinking than the average student, a classic demonstration of pluralistic ignorance.
Who they are
Prentice's research concerns how people perceive the norms of their own groups. With Miller she found the self-other gap across four studies, and that men shifted their attitudes towards the mistaken norm over a semester. With C. M. Schroeder in 1998 she tested an intervention that explained the gap to first-year students; they reported drinking less months later.
Key papers
Prentice, D. A., & Miller, D. T. (1993). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(2), 243-256. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.64.2.243.
Schroeder, C. M., & Prentice, D. A. (1998). Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28(23), 2150-2180.
Key ideas
Groups follow norms most members privately reject. See Pluralistic Ignorance.
Sources
- Papers above, verified at the published records, 11 October 2026.