We all like to think we are good at certain things—above average in certain areas.
Most of us are at some things.
But the truth is, you are likely wrong about how good or bad you are at many things.
It is likely that you both over and underestimate your actual abilities in numerous areas of life.
And the areas and the degree to which you're wrong would probably surprise you.
In a 1999 study, psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger discovered a phenomenon that would be coined the Dunning-Kruger effect.
After giving participants various tests that assessed their abilities in humor, logical reasoning, and grammar, the participants were then asked to self-assess their performance in relation to their peers in the study.
Dunning and Kruger found that people who performed poorly on the tests tended to believe that they did far better than they actually did, while those who performed well tended to misperceive their performance in relation to the average of their peers.
In other words, the study would discover the cognitive bias where people who are less knowledgeable or experienced in an area tend to believe that they are much more competent in that area than they actually are, and those who are experienced and knowledgeable in an area tend to underestimate or doubt their abilities.
These cognitive biases are the Dunning-Kruger effect.
