The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability or knowledge in a specific domain tend to overestimate their own competence in that domain, because the same lack of skill that produces poor performance also leaves them unable to recognize the poor performance. The pattern's mirror image also holds to a lesser degree: genuinely high performers sometimes slightly underestimate their own relative standing, assuming tasks that are easy for them are equally easy for others. It was first described by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger in 1999, based on a series of tests of grammar, logic and humor.
Facts
Core ClaimPeople who are least skilled at a task are often the least able to recognize their own incompetence at it, and so rate their own ability the most inaccurately. 1 First Described Year Classification
Type of Phenomenon Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Dunning-Kruger Effect
Wikimedia FoundationDefinition section
The systematic tendency of people with low ability in a specific area to give overly positive assessments of their ability.
Measurement, analysis, and investigated tasks section
The most common approach to measuring the Dunning-Kruger effect is to compare self-assessment with objective performance.
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification
The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability or knowledge in a specific domain tend to overestimate their own competence in that domain, because the same lack of skill that produces poor performance also leaves them unable to recognize the poor performance.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.