Inflated Self-Assessment of the Imcompetent
Bumping into this research really made my day. Enjoy.
Justin Kruger and David Dunning
Department of Psychology
Cornell University
Abstract
People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. Paradoxically, improving the skills of participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities.
The real kicker here is the one joke that was rated the highest. Definitely a good read.
It would also be good to mention that “incompetent” is misspelled.
It would also be good to mention that “Milla” is misspelled.
It would also be good to mention that “Monocle” is misspelled.
Incompetent.
In my defense, I will note that I am aware that I am a bad speller. So although I am incompetent I am aware that I am incompetent. No inflated self assessment with regards to spelling here.