How can the mean affect the outlier?

The mean is sensitive to outliers, as it is calculated by summing all values and dividing by the number of values. A single extreme value can significantly skew the mean, making it higher or lower than the central tendency of the majority of the data points. Consequently, the presence of outliers can misrepresent the overall data distribution and lead to misleading interpretations. In contrast, measures like the median are less affected by outliers, providing a more accurate reflection of the data's central tendency in such cases.