“People speak without knowing.” This expression may be true depending on the people we surround ourselves with, since it is not the same to speak with someone with a fruitful life experience or with a person who does not have any knowledge regarding the subject. However, there are people who try to highlight their abilities in different areas with some continuity despite not performing well.
This condition can cause it to become a problem that generates obstacles in different activities of daily life. Therefore, it is necessary to address this topic in depth to have greater knowledge of the subject. Do you want to know more about this? In this Psychology-Online article, we will provide you with information about what is the Dunning-Kruger effect and examples.
What is the Dunning-Kruger effect
When referring to the Dunning-Kruger effect, we are referring to a condition through which there is a tendency to overestimate abilities despite having poor performance in some activity.
In other words, this concept corresponds to an erroneous belief about the performance that a person has in one of the areas they carry out. In this sense, it is worth clarifying that it is not a voluntary act linked to lying, but to a distortion in the perception of one’s abilities.
How to know if you have Dunning-Kruger syndrome
Dunning-Kruger syndrome has some peculiarities that allow it to be detected based on certain manifestations that appear both in emotions and in behaviors and thoughts. For this reason, we will talk here about how to know if you have Dunning-Kruger syndrome:
- Overestimation of one’s own abilities.
- Belief of being better in certain areas than other people with greater abilities.
- Difficulties in recognizing one’s own errors.
- Exacerbated feeling of superiority over others.
- Tendency to seek out other people.
- Difficulties when accepting other people’s skills.
Beyond the description of the qualities of this condition, it is important to mention that the presence of any of them does not necessarily represent that the person has Dunning-Kruger syndrome. It is essential that the diagnosis be carried out by a health professional since he will be in charge of carrying out a complete evaluation of the patient.
In the event that you have seen yourself reflected in these behaviors or thoughts, do not worry, as I have already told you before, Dunning-Kruger syndrome does not concern a voluntary act linked to lying and you can work on the behaviors. linked. To do this, we recommend you consult our post.
Examples of the Dunning-Kruger effect
To provide greater precision about the Dunning-Kruger effect, we will describe two examples in order to understand this concept:
Example #1 of the Dunning-Kruger effect
A woman has attended an advertising conference in which it is mentioned that the predominance of the color red in beverage advertisements is associated with greater sales of the products. For this reason, this woman could have a firm belief that all advertisements should have the color red as the main stimulus for products to have greater profitability.
However, the truth is that red is not always associated with this concept since it will depend on the contextual situation that arises. And, therefore, this person does not have all the necessary knowledge to use the color red in advertising even though he has attended this conference.
Example #2 of the Dunning-Kruger effect
A man undergoes physical preparation to run a 20 kilometer marathon for a month. By participating in this event, he obtains a favorable result for his performance. From this specific fact, he could adopt the belief that one month’s physical preparations are effective for all people who want to participate in marathons.
However, this does not take into account that there are certain factors that have a marked impact on each person. In this sense, aspects such as age, sex, pre-existing diseases, family and personal medical history, among others, must be taken into consideration.
The most relevant thing about these examples lies in dismissal of professional judgment from someone with greater knowledge on the topics. Likewise, these people could reduce the relevance of the referential ideas coming from both advertising and physical preparation to highlight personal beliefs.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- García, D. (2020). Against the “opinologists”: The Dunning-Kruger effect. Noble insurance company.
- Vázquez-Lúndez, JL (2019). Deterioration of the business function, due to Dunning and Kruger syndrome in the organizational human capital of the center of Coahuila. Transdisciplinary Journal of Migration Studies, 5 (16), 36-44.