Alex lives in the United States, 20 miles due south of the boundary between the U.S. and Canada. His friend Shawn lives 30 miles due south of Alex. However, Alex thinks he lives closer to Shawn, rather than to the Canadian border. This is an example of

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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of border bias, where the presence of a border (in this case, the U.S.-Canada border) makes distances across the border seem further than they are, even if numerically smaller. Alex perceives the distance to Shawn as closer because the psychological effect of the border makes the distance to Canada feel larger than it is.

Alex Lives in the United States, 20 Miles Due South