Dunning–Kruger Effect: Why People Overestimate Their Skills

February 22, 2022, Daily News | Advanced

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

overestimate/ ˌəʊvərˈestɪmeɪt/ Verb

to think that something is bigger, better, etc. than it actually is

Example:
The agent overestimated the value of the house, so it stayed on the
market for a long time.

assume/ əˈsuːm/ Verb

to believe that something is true or will happen, often without proof

Example:
Most people assumed Hilary Clinton was going to win the election.

phenomenon/ fɪˈnɑːməˌnɑːn/ Noun

a fact or situation that is seen to exist or happen, especially one whose
cause is not well understood

Example:
The Northern Lights are a beautiful natural phenomenon.

incompetent/ ɪnˈkɑːmpɪtənt/ Adjective

not having the necessary skills or knowledge to do something well

Example:
We could achieve a lot more as a team if we didn't have
such incompetent managers.

curse/ kɜːrs/ Noun

a cause of harm or sadness

Example:
The curse of being such a reliable worker is that his boss always asks him
to work on weekends.
Exercise 2

Article

Dunning–Kruger Effect: Why People Overestimate Their Skills

Would you say that you're above or below average at most things?

Research has found that most people are very poor at estimating their
own abilities. And it has been found that in Western cultures in particular,
people frequently overestimate their skills.

For example, in a Swedish study published in 1981, 93% of American

drivers and 69% of Swedish drivers said they had above -average driving
skills — even though, by definition, it is impossible for more than 50% of
people to be above average.
Similarly, a 1992 study found that 42% of a US company's engineers
assumed they were among the company's top 5%.
In 1999, psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kru ger decided to take
a closer look at this phenomenon. They found that the people with the
least ability were, in fact, the most likely to significantly overestimate
their skills and performance.

Across four experiments testing participants' understanding o f humor,

grammar and logic, they found that those who scored in the bottom 25%
consistently assumed their performance was above average — and
sometimes even in the top 40%.
Dunning and Kruger suggested that these "incompetent" people suffer a
double curse. First, they come to incorrect conclusions and make poor
choices. And second — their incompetence makes them incapable of
realizing their own mistakes.

For example, when Dunning and Kruger studied participants at a debate

tournament at Cornell University, the bottom 25% of teams lost almost
four out of every five matches. However, these teams thought they were
winning nearly 60% of the time. Because they didn't fully understand the
rules of debate, they couldn't see why their arguments had fallen apart.

This combination of incompetence and overconfidence is now known as

the Dunning-Kruger effect.
But Dunning and Kruger also found that helping people improve their
skills also helped them become more capable of seeing their past and
current weaknesses. The researchers, therefore, suggested that the way
to make people recognize their own incompetence is actually quite
simple: make them more competent!
Exercise 3

Discussion
1. What are your thoughts on the Dunning-Kruger effect?

2. Is it common in your culture for people to overe stimate their abilities?

3. Is there anyone at your workplace you'd describe as incompetent?

4. Do you know anyone who's more competent than they think they are?

5. Who's the most self-confident person you know?

Exercise 4
Further Discussion

1. Which of your skills or abilities are you m ost confident in?

2. Are there any skills you'd like to work on improving?

3. What skills do you want to learn someday?

4. Who would you say is the most highly skilled person you know?

5. The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. — Socrates.

What are your thoughts on this statement?

Source
This lesson is based on an article by Karen Turtle.