Overconfidence effect

Overconfidence effect is a well-established bias in which a person's subjective confidence in their judgments is reliably greater than their objective accuracy, especially when confidence is relatively high. Overconfidence is one example of a miscalibration of subjective probabilities. Throughout the literature, overconfidence has been defined in three distinct ways: (1) overestimation of one's actual performance; (2) overplacement of one's performance relative to others; and (3) overprecision in expressing unwarranted certainty in the accuracy of one's beliefs.

The most common way in which overconfidence is measured is by asking people how confident they are of specific beliefs they hold or answers they provide. The confidence they express in their beliefs is then compared to the actual accuracy of these beliefs. If confidence surpasses accuracy, overconfidence is present.

Causes

The causes of the overconfidence effect have been debated by psychologists and economists. Some suggest that overconfidence is a result of cognitive bias, where the individual's own ability to judge their accuracy is flawed. Others propose that overconfidence is an artifact of information processing, where individuals fail to adequately consider the uncertainty inherent in the situation.

Implications

The overconfidence effect has been observed in various settings and is associated with numerous negative outcomes. For example, overconfidence has been linked to financial market excesses, executive decision-making errors, and even wars. In the medical field, overconfidence among physicians can lead to diagnostic errors and unnecessary procedures.

Mitigation

Several strategies have been proposed to mitigate the overconfidence effect. These include providing feedback about the accuracy of previous judgments, encouraging individuals to consider the opposite of their initial judgment, and using decision aids that highlight the uncertainty inherent in the decision-making process.

See also

• Cognitive bias
• Dunning-Kruger effect
• Illusory superiority
• Optimism bias

References

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