Dunning-Kruger effect is a type of cognitive bias in which people believe that they are smarter and more capable than they really are. The combination of poor self-awareness and low cognitive ability leads them to overestimate their own capabilities. It is a problem that many people immediately recognize-that fools are blind to their own foolishness
Overview of the Dunning-Kruger Effect
This phenomenon is something you have likely experienced in real life
- A member of your extended family begins spouting off on a topic at length, boldly proclaiming that he is correct and that everyone else’s opinion is stupid, uninformed, and just plain wrong
- The effect is named after researchers David Dunning and Justin Kruger
Is There Any Way to Overcome the Dunning-Kruger Effect?
Keep learning and practicing
- Once you gain greater knowledge of a topic, the more likely you are to recognize how much there is still to learn
- Ask others for constructive criticism
- Question what you know
- Seek out information that challenges your preconceived ideas
The Research
Incompetent people, the researchers found, are not only poor performers, they are also unable to accurately assess and recognize the quality of their own work
- This is the reason why students who earn failing scores on exams sometimes feel that they deserved a much higher score
- They overestimate their own knowledge and ability and are incapable of seeing the poorness of their performance
- The very trouble with ignorance is that it can feel just like expertise
A Little Knowledge Can Lead to Overconfidence
A tiny bit of knowledge on a subject can lead people to mistakenly believe that they know all there is to know about it
- Other factors that can contribute to the effect include our use of heuristics, or mental shortcuts that allow us to make decisions quickly, and our tendency to seek out patterns even where none exist
Causes of the Dunning-Kruger Effect
Dunning and Kruger suggest that this phenomenon stems from what they refer to as the “dual burden.”
- People are not only incompetent, but their incompetence robs them of the mental ability to realize just how inept they are.
- Incompetent people tend to: Overestimate their own skill levels
- Fail to recognize the genuine skill and expertise of other people
- Failing to recognize their own mistakes and lack of skill
Who Is Affected by the Dunning-Kruger Effect?
Everyone has areas in which they are uninformed and incompetent
- You might be smart and skilled in many areas, but no one is an expert at everything
- Dunning and Kruger found that those at the high end of the competence spectrum did hold more realistic views of their own knowledge and capabilities
- However, these experts tended to underestimate their own abilities relative to how others did
- Top-scoring individuals know that they are better than the average, but they are not convinced of just how superior their performance is compared to others
A Word From Verywell
Dunning-Kruger effect is one of many cognitive biases that can affect your behaviors and decisions, from the mundane to the life-changing
An Inability to Recognize Lack of Skill and Mistakes
Dunning suggests that deficits in skill and expertise create a two-pronged problem
A Lack of Metacognition
People are often only able to evaluate themselves from their own limited and highly subjective point of view
