Why the unskilled are unaware: Further explorations of (absent) self-insight among the incompetent

• Published in: Organizational behavior and human decision processes Vol. 105; no. 1; pp. 98 - 121
• Main Authors: Ehrlinger, Joyce, Johnson, Kerri, Banner, Matthew, Dunning, David, Kruger, Justin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 2008; Elsevier; Elsevier Science Publishing Company, Inc
• Series: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
• Subjects: Assessment; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition; Cognition. Intelligence; Competence; Error; Firm theory; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Incompetence; Meta-analysis; Metacognition; Miscellaneous; Organizational behavior; Peer groups; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Regression analysis; Self evaluation; Self-confidence; Self-insight; Selfconfidence; Selfinsight; Skills; Studies; Systematic review; Task performance; Self-confidence; Competence; Self-insight; Metacognition; Ability; Human; Self evaluation; Confidence; Optimism pessimism; Insight; Cognition
• ISSN: 0749-5978; 1095-9920
• DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2007.05.002

People are typically overly optimistic when evaluating the quality of their performance on social and intellectual tasks. In particular, poor performers grossly overestimate their performances because their incompetence deprives them of the skills needed to recognize their deficits. Five studies demonstrated that poor performers lack insight into their shortcomings even in real world settings and when given incentives to be accurate. An additional meta-analysis showed that it was lack of insight into their own errors (and not mistaken assessments of their peers) that led to overly optimistic estimates among poor performers. Along the way, these studies ruled out recent alternative accounts that have been proposed to explain why poor performers hold such positive impressions of their performance.