If you work with an overconfident jerk, they likely have this condition

You know that coworker you have who thinks they are a genius but is actually the opposite and constantly underperforms? Well, turns out there is actually a name for this infamous workplace phenomenon (but disappointingly it isn’t called “Overconfident jerk syndrome.”)

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

The new study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology sheds light on the Dunning-Kruger Effect (the yang to imposter’s syndrome’s yin.) The condition refers to people of low aptitude routinely overestimating their ability. The practical application is far-reaching but it often impacts the way people aspire toward occupational success.

Sustained success of any kind is usually authored by an understanding of one’s limitations but that doesn’t happen with people with Dunning-Kruger.

In the new study, researchers from Zayed University in Abu Dhabi and Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, examined how the Dunning-Kruger effect, influences one’s ambitions and intuitive thinking. 

“In our current world, this is arguably the most important skill that exists. We are swimming in a sea of misleading headlines, fake news, filtered pictures on social media, distorted context, and commentators who project a false sense of authority and trust. Almost all of which has the explicit goal of tricking our intuition,” the authors wrote in the paper.

“It is very hard to not feel the intuitive or natural reaction to anything you see in media, but if you can recognize the process and spot the trick, you are much more likely to avoid being swept up in something false.” 

The researchers go on to posit that, narcissistic ignorance dramatically impairs one’s ability to make productive decisions moment-to-moment. In order to test the degree to which this is true, they employed a seven-question cognitive reflection test (CRT) developed by Yale professor, Dr. Shane Frederick. 

The CRT is meant to assess a person’s ability to reject an incorrect intuitive response in service of analytical thinking faculties. Those living with a false sense of confidence about their abilities are more likely to give in to their initial impulses at the expense of analytical thinking faculties.

Questions featured in CRT tests are similar to brain teasers you’d see on various social media sites. Think pound of rocks vs a pound of feathers.

The authors recruited 178 female undergraduate students from Zayed University, Abu Dhabi. Each was asked to evaluate their own performance after completing the seven-question cognitive reflection test. Participants subsequently completed a self-reporting “faith in intuition” survey. Consistently, participants who performed poorly rated themselves highly.

“Specifically, on a test that was out of seven points, low performers overestimated their CRT score by 4.26, which high-performers miscalibrated by just 1,” the authors continued.

“This is a double burden that is unfortunately very common,” explained Dr. Couchman. “People who consider themselves to be more intuitive probably notice and remember the times when their intuition worked, and forget when it was incorrect. That results in a deficit in knowledge, but also boosts their confidence in the incorrect process. Both of those problems work together to make it more likely they will make errors in the future.”

It should be noted that the Dunning-Kruger effect doesn’t just apply to academia. An independently conducted study asked software engineers at two companies to evaluate their performance: 32% of the employees at one company and 42% of employees at the other company rated themselves in the top 5% even though third-party reviews did not reflect this.

It’s not merely a matter of overconfidence. The research literature seems to indicate that the more incompetent you are, the more vulnerable you are to mistakes of self-perception.

“Education at all developmental levels should directly teach the Dunning-Kruger Effect, problems with intuition, and related cognitive biases. Interventions to improve self-awareness that specifically focus on intuitive biases and fluency may help low performers spot errors, improve metacognitively, and increase performance,” the authors of the new report conclude.