Abstract
We attempt to develop an integrative model of the factors that give rise to the overestimation of their abilities among the incompetent and underestimation of the competent by decomposing the specific conditions of the cognitive and motivational components underlying the self-assessment phenomenon from a statistical point of view. Hong Kong (Study 1) and European American participants (Study 2) took an ability test and assessed their performance. By plotting estimated relative ability against actual ability and fitting a regression line, we found that a comparative bias (intercept), reflecting participants’ self-enhancement motivation, and a less-than-perfect estimation accuracy (slope), reflecting participants’ cognitive bias, jointly contributed to the ability estimation line wherein low-performance participants overestimate and high performance participants underestimate their performance. In testing and validating the model, the relationship between participants’ estimated relative ability and actual performance was examined as a function of participants’ self-esteem (motivational factor) and perceived difficulty level (cognitive factor). Regarding the extent of self-enhancement, we found that participants with higher self-esteem rated their ability more favorably independent of their actual performance. Moreover, participants who perceived the task to be more difficult made more unfavorable self-assessments. Regarding the relationship between estimated and actual performance, we found that when the task was seen as more difficult, and, hence, less diagnostic of ability, participants were less likely to base their ability assessment on their actual performance, resulting in less accurate self-assessments.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1201-1216 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 Oct 1 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Social Psychology
- Cultural Studies
- Anthropology
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Why Do People Overestimate or Underestimate Their Abilities? A Cross-Culturally Valid Model of Cognitive and Motivational Processes in Self-Assessment Biases. / Kim, Young-Hoon; Kwon, Heewon; Lee, Joo; Chiu, Chi Yue.
In: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 47, No. 9, 01.10.2016, p. 1201-1216.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Why Do People Overestimate or Underestimate Their Abilities? A Cross-Culturally Valid Model of Cognitive and Motivational Processes in Self-Assessment Biases
AU - Kim, Young-Hoon
AU - Kwon, Heewon
AU - Lee, Joo
AU - Chiu, Chi Yue
PY - 2016/10/1
Y1 - 2016/10/1
N2 - We attempt to develop an integrative model of the factors that give rise to the overestimation of their abilities among the incompetent and underestimation of the competent by decomposing the specific conditions of the cognitive and motivational components underlying the self-assessment phenomenon from a statistical point of view. Hong Kong (Study 1) and European American participants (Study 2) took an ability test and assessed their performance. By plotting estimated relative ability against actual ability and fitting a regression line, we found that a comparative bias (intercept), reflecting participants’ self-enhancement motivation, and a less-than-perfect estimation accuracy (slope), reflecting participants’ cognitive bias, jointly contributed to the ability estimation line wherein low-performance participants overestimate and high performance participants underestimate their performance. In testing and validating the model, the relationship between participants’ estimated relative ability and actual performance was examined as a function of participants’ self-esteem (motivational factor) and perceived difficulty level (cognitive factor). Regarding the extent of self-enhancement, we found that participants with higher self-esteem rated their ability more favorably independent of their actual performance. Moreover, participants who perceived the task to be more difficult made more unfavorable self-assessments. Regarding the relationship between estimated and actual performance, we found that when the task was seen as more difficult, and, hence, less diagnostic of ability, participants were less likely to base their ability assessment on their actual performance, resulting in less accurate self-assessments.
AB - We attempt to develop an integrative model of the factors that give rise to the overestimation of their abilities among the incompetent and underestimation of the competent by decomposing the specific conditions of the cognitive and motivational components underlying the self-assessment phenomenon from a statistical point of view. Hong Kong (Study 1) and European American participants (Study 2) took an ability test and assessed their performance. By plotting estimated relative ability against actual ability and fitting a regression line, we found that a comparative bias (intercept), reflecting participants’ self-enhancement motivation, and a less-than-perfect estimation accuracy (slope), reflecting participants’ cognitive bias, jointly contributed to the ability estimation line wherein low-performance participants overestimate and high performance participants underestimate their performance. In testing and validating the model, the relationship between participants’ estimated relative ability and actual performance was examined as a function of participants’ self-esteem (motivational factor) and perceived difficulty level (cognitive factor). Regarding the extent of self-enhancement, we found that participants with higher self-esteem rated their ability more favorably independent of their actual performance. Moreover, participants who perceived the task to be more difficult made more unfavorable self-assessments. Regarding the relationship between estimated and actual performance, we found that when the task was seen as more difficult, and, hence, less diagnostic of ability, participants were less likely to base their ability assessment on their actual performance, resulting in less accurate self-assessments.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84988736224&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84988736224&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0022022116661243
DO - 10.1177/0022022116661243
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84988736224
VL - 47
SP - 1201
EP - 1216
JO - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
JF - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
SN - 0022-0221
IS - 9
ER -