The DOI matches its Crossref record, with a small difference in title or year; 321 of the 321 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Flawed Self-Assessment: Implications for Health, Education, and the Workplace
Open accessAbstract
Research from numerous corners of psychological inquiry suggests that self-assessments of skill and character are often flawed in substantive and systematic ways. We review empirical findings on the imperfect nature of self-assessment and discuss implications for three real-world domains: health, education, and the workplace. In general, people's self-views hold only a tenuous to modest relationship with their actual behavior and performance. The correlation between self-ratings of skill and actual performance in many domains is moderate to meager—indeed, at times, other people's predictions of a person's outcomes prove more accurate than that person's self-predictions. In addition, people overrate themselves. On average, people say that they are “above average” in skill (a conclusion that defies statistical possibility), overestimate the likelihood that they will engage in desirable behaviors and achieve favorable outcomes, furnish overly optimistic estimates of when they will complete future projects, and reach judgments with too much confidence. Several psychological processes conspire to produce flawed self-assessments. Research focusing on health echoes these findings. People are unrealistically optimistic about their own health risks compared with those of other people. They also overestimate how distinctive their opinions and preferences (e.g., discomfort with alcohol) are among their peers—a misperception that can have a deleterious impact on their health. Unable to anticipate how they would respond to emotion-laden situations, they mispredict the preferences of patients when asked to step in and make treatment decisions for them. Guided by mistaken but seemingly plausible theories of health and disease, people misdiagnose themselves—a phenomenon that can have severe consequences for their health and longevity. Similarly, research in education finds that students' assessments of their performance tend to agree only moderately with those of their teachers and mentors. Students seem largely unable to assess how well or poorly they have comprehended material they have just read. They also tend to be overconfident in newly learned skills, at times because the common educational practice of massed training appears to promote rapid acquisition of skill—as well as self-confidence—but not necessarily the retention of skill. Several interventions, however, can be introduced to prompt students to evaluate their skill and learning more accurately. In the workplace, flawed self-assessments arise all the way up the corporate ladder. Employees tend to overestimate their skill, making it difficult to give meaningful feedback. CEOs also display overconfidence in their judgments, particularly when stepping into new markets or novel projects—for example, proposing acquisitions that hurt, rather then help, the price of their company's stock. We discuss several interventions aimed at circumventing the consequences of such flawed assessments; these include training people to routinely make cognitive repairs correcting for biased self-assessments and requiring people to justify their decisions in front of their peers. The act of self-assessment is an intrinsically difficult task, and we enumerate several obstacles that prevent people from reaching truthful self-impressions. We also propose that researchers and practitioners should recognize self-assessment as a coherent and unified area of study spanning many subdisciplines of psychology and beyond. Finally, we suggest that policymakers and other people who makes real-world assessments should be wary of self-assessments of skill, expertise, and knowledge, and should consider ways of repairing self-assessments that may be flawed.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Learning about notions of quality through assessing the work of peers may reduce the effect of cognitive biases directed towards the self when undertaking self-assessment (Dunning et al. 2004).”
From Developing evaluative judgement: enabling students to make decisions about the quality of work (2018) · cites this paper as Dunning et al. 2004
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“human beings do show a tendency to leap to conclusions about themselves, other people, and the world based on limited information and misperceptions about the extent and generalizability of prior knowledge and experiences (Dunning, Heath, & Suls, 2004).”
From Psychological flexibility as a fundamental aspect of health (2010) · cites this paper as Dunning, Heath, & Suls, 2004
In the citing paper
“Feedback helps students make sense of their learning and compare their performance against a recognized standard. 1-3”
From Medical student perceptions of feedback and feedback behaviors within the context of the “educational alliance.” (2017) · cites this paper as [3]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage
Barney, J. (1991) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/014920639101700108 · Cited by 48,334
(1994) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/0002-8223(94)92216-0 · Cited by 46,726
Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage
Barney, J. B. (2004) · Advances in strategic management · doi:10.1016/s0742-3322(00)17018-4 · Cited by 38,216
(1980) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 25,810
Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1975) · Utility, Probability, and Human Decision Making · doi:10.1007/978-94-010-1834-0_8 · Cited by 22,650
A theory of social comparison processes
Festinger, L. (1954) · Human Relations · doi:10.1177/001872675400700202 · Cited by 20,926
Research in Organizational Behavior.
Grimes, A. J., Cummings, L. L., & Staw, B. M. (1986) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2392975 · Cited by 11,303
Academy of Management Executive
(2010) · The Academy of Management executive/Academy of Management executive · doi:10.5465/ame · Cited by 9,051
The case for motivated reasoning.
Kunda, Z. (1990) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.108.3.480 · Cited by 9,022
Illusion and well‐being: A social psychological perspective on mental health
Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.103.2.193 · Cited by 7,814
Research works printed but not linked: 42
- Amler R., 1989, Healthier people
- Bjork R.A., 1988, Practical aspects of memory: Current research and issues: Vol. 1. Memory in everyday life, 396
- Brockett R.G., 1991, Self-direction in adult learning: Perspectives on theory, research, and practice
- Brody J.E., 1999, New York Times
- Cambridge R.M., 1980, Are you sure? The subjective probability assessment test
- Christensen P., 1996, Nordic Road and Transport Research, 8, 22
- College Board., 1976, Student descriptive questionnaire
- 10.1037/0022-3514.68.6.1152 · DOI
- Cusumano M.A., 1995, Microsoft secrets
- Davis D., 1985, Harvard Business Review, 63, 95
- Duch B., 2001, The power of problem-based learning
- Dunbar K., 1995, The nature of insight, 365
- Dunning D., Basic principles in social psychology
- Epley N., 2004, The mixed blessings of self-knowledge in behavioral prediction
- Friedman M., 1959, Type A and your heart
- 10.1037/0022-3514.69.3.505 · DOI
- 10.1177/003151259407800331 · DOI
- Heath C., 1998, Research in organizational behavior, 20, 1
- Kahneman D., 1979, TIMS Studies in Management Science, 12, 313
- Kim Y.M., 2000, Improving provider-client communication: Reinforcing IPC/C training in Indonesia with self-assessment and peer review
- Koch A., 2001, Science Education, 75, 858
- Lennon S., 1995, Enhancing student learning through peer tutoring in higher education: Section 3—Implementing, 66
- Loftus E.F., 1988, Jurimetrics Journal, 29, 437
- Lovallo D., 2003, Harvard Business Review, 81, 56
- Malmendier U., 2003, Who makes acquisitions? A test of the overconfidence hypothesis
- Malmendier U., Journal of Finance
- Mintzberg H., 1975, Harvard Business Review, 53, 49
- Moore D.A., 2004, Strategic myopia and entrepreneurial entry: An experimental approach
- Oskamp S., 1965, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 29, 261
- Porter M., 1980, Competitive strategy
- Risucci D.A., 1989, Surgical Gynecology and Obstetrics, 169, 519
- Sambell K., 1997, Improving student learning—improving students as learners, 56
- 10.1037/0003-066X.48.11.1117 · DOI
- Stock M.F., 1983, Evaluation of safe performance secondary school driver education curriculum demonstration project: Final report
- Stuart M.R., 1980, Journal of Family Practice, 10, 639
- 10.1037/0022-3514.46.3.489 · DOI
- Thiede K.W., 1999, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 30, 125
- 10.3102/00346543068003249 · DOI · Paper page
- Van Boven L., 2004, The illusion of courage: Underestimating fear of embarrassment in public performance decisions
- 10.1001/jama.1994.03520210056032 · DOI
- 10.1037/0278-6133.14.2.132 · DOI
- Wilde G.J.S., 1998, Recovery, 9, 18
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 901–1,000 of 1,000
High-status lobbyists are most likely to overrate their success
Lyons, B. A., McKay, A. M., & Reifler, J. (2019) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-019-0761-9 · Cited by 13
Christensen, E. L., & Paasivaara, M. (2022) · IEEE/ACM International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training (ICSE-SEET) · doi:10.1145/3510456.3514145 · Cited by 10
Advice in Crisis: Principles of Organizational and Entrepreneurial Resilience
Levine, S. S., Prietula, M. J., & Majchrzak, A. (2023) · Journal of Organization Design · doi:10.1007/s41469-022-00128-4 · Cited by 10
Casteel, M. A. (2023) · Weather Climate and Society · doi:10.1175/wcas-d-22-0115.1 · Cited by 12
Food fraud detection and reporting by food control officers in Finland
Joenperä, J., & Lundén, J. M. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Health Research · doi:10.1080/09603123.2023.2236977 · Cited by 10
“In turn, another possible limitation of the present study was that FCOs’ knowledge of the establishments they inspected was investigated via self-assessment, which is vulnerable to bias, as respondents tend to overestimate their own abilities (Dunning et al. 2004).”
BackgroundPinedo, L., Panadero, E., Ruiz, J. F., & Rodríguez-Hernández, C. F. (2023) · Assessment in Education Principles Policy and Practice · doi:10.1080/0969594x.2023.2284630 · Cited by 14
“Students’ self-assessment varies by academic performance level, with low achievers experiencing more problems in calibrating their performance (Dunning et al., 2004).”
BackgroundStudent self-assessment: a meta-review of five decades of research
Nieminen, J. H., & Boud, D. J. (2025) · Assessment in Education Principles Policy and Practice · doi:10.1080/0969594x.2025.2510211 · Cited by 15
“Here, the societal functioning of self-assessment is seen clearly: flawed self-assessment produced risks not only for individuals but for societies at large (Dunning et al., 2004; Nayar et al., 2020; Wolff et al., 2017).”
Choice Points: The Making of a Scholar-Practitioner
Burke, W. W. (2015) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/s0897-301620150000023001 · Cited by 10
Introduction of Basic Dermatologic Ultrasound in Undergraduate Medical Education
Alfageme, F., Cerezo, E., Fernandez, I., Aguilo, R., Sueiro, A. V., & Roustan-Gullón, G. (2016) · Ultrasound International Open · doi:10.1055/s-0042-120273 · Cited by 10
GRUS, C. L., & Rozensky, R. H. (2019) · Professional Psychology Research and Practice · doi:10.1037/pro0000218 · Cited by 10
What would you do? A new approach to health competence based on situational judgment
Robinson, M. D., Persich, M. R., & Krishnakumar, S. (2019) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12518 · Cited by 10
Chen, T.-L., Chao, T.-Y., & Cheng, H.-T. (2020) · Natural hazards and earth system sciences · doi:10.5194/nhess-20-2433-2020 · Cited by 9
Seitz, S., Khatib, N., Guessous, O., & Kuperminc, G. P. (2021) · Applied Developmental Science · doi:10.1080/10888691.2021.1993855 · Cited by 12
“The associations between self-report data and actual behavior are often moderate-to-weak (Dunning et al., 2004).”
BackgroundPsychological wellness and self-care: an ethical and professional imperative
Collins, M. H., & Cassill, C. K. (2021) · Ethics & Behavior · doi:10.1080/10508422.2021.1971526 · Cited by 10
“This aligns with research in psychology highlighting inherent challenges with self-assessment including poor correlations between self-assessment of one’s own behavior and actual performance (Dunning et al., 2004).”
BackgroundZero party data between hype and hope
Polonioli, A. (2022) · Frontiers in Big Data · doi:10.3389/fdata.2022.943372 · Cited by 14
“People are often subject to flawed self-assessments (Dunning et al., 2004).”
BackgroundDocumenting heritage language experience using questionnaires
Tomić, A., Rodina, Y., Bayram, F., & CAT, C. D. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1131374 · Cited by 10
Cummings, J. A., Hayes, A. M., Laurenceau, J., & Cohen, L. H. (2010) · International Journal of Cognitive Therapy · doi:10.1521/ijct.2010.3.4.318 · Cited by 10
Storytelling: its place in infection control education
Cole, M. (2009) · Journal of Infection Prevention · doi:10.1177/1757177409341425 · Cited by 10
A Situational Approach for Assessing and Teaching Acculturation
Molinsky, A. L. (2009) · Organizational Behavior Teaching Review · doi:10.1177/1052562909337713 · Cited by 10
Effect of time-pressure on perceived and actual performance in functional software testing
Salman, I., & Turhan, B. (2018) · International Conference on Software and System Process · doi:10.1145/3202710.3203148 · Cited by 10
Sanchez, C. J., & Dunning, D. A. (2018) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550618801003 · Cited by 10
Self-citationThe person in context: Using situational judgment to gain insight into social functioning
Persich, M. R., & Robinson, M. D. (2019) · Journal of Social and Personal Relationships · doi:10.1177/0265407519864447 · Cited by 10
“Investigators typically measure social-behavioral tendencies through the use of selfreport tests, but such tests clearly have limitations (Dunning et al., 2004).”
BackgroundDavidai, S., Deri, S., & Gilovich, T. D. (2020) · Self and Identity · doi:10.1080/15298868.2020.1779121 · Cited by 11
Learning to Characterize Matching Experts
Shraga, R., Amir, O., & Gal, A. (2021) · IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE) · doi:10.1109/icde51399.2021.00111 · Cited by 10
Wondim, A. A., Wu, W., Wu, W., Zhang, M., & Liu, P. (2021) · South African Journal of Business Management · doi:10.4102/sajbm.v52i1.2165 · Cited by 17
Hosseini, M., & Nimehchisalem, V. (2021) · Open Journal of Modern Linguistics · doi:10.4236/ojml.2021.116066 · Cited by 15
Exposing the many biases in machine learning
Richardson, S. (2022) · Business Information Review · doi:10.1177/02663821221121024 · Cited by 10
“People tend to underreport embarrassing behaviours and thoughts, even when responding anonymously, and tend to rate themselves above average for desirable abilities and behaviours (Dunning et al., 2004).”
BackgroundEnsuring the continuum of learning: The role of assessment for lifelong learning
Su, Y. (2015) · International Review of Education · doi:10.1007/s11159-015-9465-1 · Cited by 10
Better-than-average effects in secondary education: a 3-year follow-up
Kuyper, H., & Dijkstra, P. (2009) · Educational Research and Evaluation · doi:10.1080/13803610902804416 · Cited by 10
Endo, Y. (2007) · Asian Journal Of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1467-839x.2007.00231.x · Cited by 10
Stewart, L. F., & Rae, A. M. (2012) · Nursing in Critical Care · doi:10.1111/j.1478-5153.2012.00524.x · Cited by 10
What Are People’s Lay Theories About Mind Wandering and How Do Those Beliefs Affect Them?
Zedelius, C. M., & Schooler, J. W. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57306-9_4 · Cited by 12
Hargis, M. B., & Castel, A. D. (2019) · Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2019.09.004 · Cited by 10
Information as a Moderator of Accuracy in Personality Judgment
Beer, A. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190912529.013.9 · Cited by 10
Pilotti, M., Alaoui, K. E., Mulhem, H. A., & Kuhayli, H. A. A. (2019) · Europe’s Journal of Psychology · doi:10.5964/ejop.v15i4.1921 · Cited by 10
Mainz, V., Britz, S., Forster, S. D., Drueke, B., & Gauggel, S. (2020) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2020.00056 · Cited by 10
Tools for Learning in an Information Society
Nesbit, J. C., & Winne, P. H. (2007) · doi:10.1002/9780470696682.ch7 · Cited by 10
Gambrill, E. D. (2008) · doi:10.1002/9780470373705.chsw003004 · Cited by 10
van den Berg, M. (2018) · University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) · Cited by 10
Kraft, L., Zimmermann, J., Schmukle, S. C., Czarna, A. Z., Sekerdej, M., & Dufner, M. (2023) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1177/08902070231199366 · Cited by 9
“Biased interpretations of reality can be bene fi cial for psychological health (Dufner et al., 2019; Taylor & Brown, 1988), but may be problematic in situations that call for a realistic appraisal of one ’ s own limits (Dunning et al., 2004).”
BackgroundWorthington, D., Graham, B., Gilliard, H., & Kelp, N. (2024) · CBE—Life Sciences Education · doi:10.1187/cbe.24-01-0012 · Cited by 9
Giraud, C., Newcomb, M. E., & Whitton, S. W. (2024) · LGBT Health · doi:10.1089/lgbt.2024.0135 · Cited by 9
Cognitive biases in user experience and spreadsheet programming
Máté, D., Kiss, J. T., & Csernoch, M. (2025) · Education and Information Technologies · doi:10.1007/s10639-025-13392-0 · Cited by 12
Peers, parents, and self-perceptions: the gender gap in mathematics self-assessment
Adamecz-Völgyi, A., Jerrim, J., Pingault, J., & Shure, N. (2025) · Journal of Population Economics · doi:10.1007/s00148-025-01087-2 · Cited by 9
“This result corresponds to findings in the overconfidence literature that people are overconfident in their ability on average (Alicke et al. 2005; Dunning et al. 2004).”
What if your partner…? A situated decision-making approach to romantic competence in young adulthood
Robinson, M. D., Penzel, I. B., & Persich, M. R. (2020) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2020.104012 · Cited by 9
Kalantari, A. H., Yazdi, S. M., Hill, T., Moghaddam, A. M., Ayati, E., & Sullman, M. J. M. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0249827 · Cited by 9
Siebert, S., Herden, J., & Gey, H. (2022) · Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism · doi:10.1016/j.jort.2022.100500 · Cited by 9
Computerized Suicide Prevention Clinical Training Simulations: A Pilot Study
Bornheimer, L. A., Verdugo, J. L., Humm, L. B., Steacy, C., Krasnick, J., Grumet, J. G., Aikens, J. E., Gold, K. J., Hiltz, B., & Smith, M. J. (2023) · Research on Social Work Practice · doi:10.1177/10497315231161563 · Cited by 9
“This is promising to observe since some literature indicates competence perception does not always strongly correlate with skill performance (Dunning et al., 2004).”
BackgroundCaptari, L. E., Choe, E. J. Y., Crabtree, S. A., Sandage, S. J., Gerstenblith, J. A., Stein, L. B., Hydinger, K. R., & Stavros, G. S. (2024) · International Journal of Group Psychotherapy · doi:10.1080/00207284.2024.2329565 · Cited by 9
“Though well-intended, self-care as a primary intervention is rooted in Eurocentric, individualistic understandings of person-hood that fail to account for the limitations of self-assessment (Dunning et al., 2004) and ignore systemic pressures and societal forces that ceaselessly pull for more.”
BackgroundLove addiction: Trait impulsivity, emotional dysregulation and attachment style
Dineen, J., & Dinc, L. (2024) · The European Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ejpsy.2024.100255 · Cited by 12
Mirci, P. S., & Hensley, P. A. (2010) · Educational Leadership and Administration: Teaching and Program Development · Cited by 9
Hooley, D. S., Tysseling, L. A., & Ray, B. B. (2013) · The High School journal/The High school journal · doi:10.1353/hsj.2013.0018 · Cited by 9
School Counselors’ Approach to Ethical Decision Making
Luke, M. M., Gilbride, D. D., & Goodrich, K. M. (2016) · Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy · doi:10.1080/2326716x.2016.1223569 · Cited by 9
Faculty Assessment of Emergency Medicine Resident Grit: A Multicenter Study
Olson, N., Olson, A. S., Williamson, K., Hartman, N. D., Branzetti, J. B., & Lank, P. M. (2018) · AEM Education and Training · doi:10.1002/aet2.10309 · Cited by 8
“Furthermore, observer reports of noncognitive traits may be better predictors of actual performance than selfassessments.(32) In 2007, Duckworth et al.”
BackgroundReflecting on reflective practice.
Schaffer, J. B., & Rodolfa, E. R. (2020) · Clinical Psychology Science and Practice · doi:10.1111/cpsp.12361 · Cited by 9
College Students from Poverty: Academic Success and Authenticity
Lewine, R. R. J., Warnecke, A. J., & Sommers, A. (2021) · Journal of Poverty · doi:10.1080/10875549.2020.1869666 · Cited by 9
“It is also possible that Authenticity applies to self-knowledge or awareness with those students who are more self-aware likelier to make good decisions (Dunning et al., 2004).”
BackgroundGandenberger, J., Hawes, S. M., Wheatall, E., Pappas, A., & Morris, K. N. (2021) · Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science · doi:10.1080/10888705.2021.2008934 · Cited by 9
Self-Assessment for Learning in Vocational Education and Training
Panadero, E., Garcia, D., & Fraile, J. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-94532-3_85 · Cited by 9
Quantitative research without measurement. Reinterpreting the better-than-average-effect
Franz, D. J. (2022) · New Ideas in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2022.100976 · Cited by 9
Game-Based Assessment: The Mash-Up We’ve Been Waiting For
Heinzen, T. E., Landrum, R. E., Gurung, R. A. R., & Dunn, D. S. (2014) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-10208-5_11 · Cited by 10
Preventing problems of professional competence in the face of life-threatening illness.
Johnson, W. B., & Barnett, J. E. (2011) · Professional Psychology Research and Practice · doi:10.1037/a0024433 · Cited by 9
Stoneking, B. C., & McGuffin, B. A. (2007) · Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal · doi:10.2975/31.2.2007.97.106 · Cited by 9
Roulaux, P. E. M., van Herwijnen, I. R., & Beerda, B. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0234917 · Cited by 9
“The Dunning-Kruger effect has been found in a wide range of disciplines and professions [34, 35], and was suggested to affect veterinarian students as well [36].”
BackgroundWillgens, A. M., & Sharf, R. (2015) · Journal of Physical Therapy Education · doi:10.1097/00001416-201529010-00011 · Cited by 9
Advancing Employee Resilience Research: Additional Thoughts
Wolfson, N., & Mulqueen, C. (2016) · Industrial and Organizational Psychology · doi:10.1017/iop.2016.38 · Cited by 9
Developing Trust With Early Medical School Graduates During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Kinnear, B., Kelleher, M., Olson, A. P. J., Sall, D. R., & Schumacher, D. J. (2020) · Journal of Hospital Medicine · doi:10.12788/3463 · Cited by 9
Wanting to like: Motivation influences behavioral and neural responses to social feedbackPreprint
Hughes, B., Leong, J. K., Shiv, B., & Zaki, J. (2018) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/300657 · Cited by 11
Crafting Personal territory in a political world: A human agency approach to organizational politics
Liang, J., Chen, H., Du, D., & He, X. (. (2023) · Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology · doi:10.1111/joop.12428 · Cited by 8
The Power of Words: Employee Responses to Numerical Versus Narrative Performance Feedback
Kim, J., Zitek, E. M., & Stroup, C. (2024) · Academy of Management Discoveries · doi:10.5465/amd.2023.0308 · Cited by 8
How does the Dunning-Kruger effect happen in creativity? The creative self-concept matters
Yang, X., Xu, F., Qin, K., Yu, Y., Zheng, Q., Zhu, A., Hu, B., & Gu, C. (2024) · Thinking Skills and Creativity · doi:10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101638 · Cited by 8
Positive Identity Construction in Diverse Organizations
Roberts, L. M., & Caza, B. B. (2024) · Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-110721-041934 · Cited by 12
van Harsel, M., Hoogerheide, V., Verkoeijen, P. P. J. L., & van Gog, T. (2021) · Journal of Computer Assisted Learning · doi:10.1111/jcal.12589 · Cited by 13
Sah, S. (2021) · Academy of Management Perspectives · doi:10.5465/amp.2021.0033 · Cited by 9
Bowen, C. D., Summersill, A. R., Jensen, J. L., Brownell, S. E., & Barnes, M. E. (2022) · Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education · doi:10.1128/jmbe.00067-22 · Cited by 9
Probst, T., Humer, E. C., Jesser, A., & Pieh, C. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.966947 · Cited by 8
“This has been shown in a variety of areas of performance (Dunning et al., 2004), including health care professionals.”
BackgroundAlgorithms in selection decisions: Effective, but unappreciated
Rabinovitch, H., Budescu, D. V., & Bereby‐Meyer, Y. (2024) · Journal of Behavioral Decision Making · doi:10.1002/bdm.2368 · Cited by 10
Inoculation hesitancy: an exploration of challenges in scaling inoculation theory
Johnson, A., & Madsen, J. K. (2024) · Royal Society Open Science · doi:10.1098/rsos.231711 · Cited by 8
How to support self-assessment through standards in dissimilar-solution-tasks
Froese, L., & Roelle, J. (2024) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.101998 · Cited by 48
Branzetti, J. B., Gisondi, M. A., Hopson, L. R., Regan, L. A., & Botti, S. (2024) · Medical Education · doi:10.1111/medu.15601 · Cited by 9
Who prefers guessing to admitting They Don't Know? Measurement error in financial literacy surveys
Bertola, G., & Prete, A. L. (2025) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2025.107003 · Cited by 8
Cognitive Therapy Trainees’ Self-Reflections on their Professional Learning
Niemi, P. M., & Tiuraniemi, J. (2009) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465809990609 · Cited by 8
Grade perceptions of students in chemistry coursework at all levels
Webb, J. A., & Karatjas, A. G. (2018) · Chemistry Education Research and Practice · doi:10.1039/c7rp00168a · Cited by 8
Personality Assessment with the Rorschach Inkblot Method
Weiner, I. B., & Meyer, G. J. (2012) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195366877.013.0015 · Cited by 8
Teh, X. R., & Lee, S. W. H. (2019) · Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research · doi:10.1002/jppr.1450 · Cited by 8
Unhealthy and unaware? Misjudging social comparative standing for health-relevant behavior
Miller, J. E., Windschitl, P. D., Treat, T. A., & Scherer, A. M. (2019) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103873 · Cited by 8
Zheng, X., Yu, Y. U., & Liu, X. (2022) · Acta Psychologica Sinica · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1041.2022.00646 · Cited by 9
Better decision making through objective numeracy and numeric self-efficacy
(2023) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2023.03.002 · Cited by 10
Yousuf, S., Atif, F., Sayeed, I., Tang, H.-L., Wang, J., & Stein, D. G. (2015) · Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience · doi:10.3233/rnn-140450 · Cited by 8
Self-assessment of competences in management education
López, L. H., Pérez, P. D. S., Rodríguez, J. L. B., & Almeida, D. J. G. (2015) · International Journal of Educational Management · doi:10.1108/ijem-10-2013-0154 · Cited by 8
Self- and peer-assessments of ambulance drivers' driving performance
Sundström, A. E., & Albertsson, P. (2012) · IATSS Research · doi:10.1016/j.iatssr.2012.02.001 · Cited by 8
van der Kam, N. A., van der Vegt, G. S., Janssen, O., & Stoker, J. I. (2014) · European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology · doi:10.1080/1359432x.2014.958149 · Cited by 10
Beyond Cause to Consequence: The Road from Possible to Core Self-Revision
Carroll, P. J., Agler, R. A., & Newhart, D. W. (2015) · Self and Identity · doi:10.1080/15298868.2015.1026385 · Cited by 9
“…with self-assessment errors, Dunning and colleagues noted that “to the extent that people misjudge themselves, they may suffer costly consequences by pursuing wrong paths and missing opportunities to take advantage of special skills and resources they truly own (Dunning et al., 2004, p. 70).””
BackgroundComparative optimism for severity of negative health outcomes
Hevey, D., & French, D. (2012) · Psychology Health & Medicine · doi:10.1080/13548506.2011.613940 · Cited by 8
Reyes, A. D. L., Reynolds, E. K., Wang, F. M., MacPherson, L., & Lejuez, C. W. (2010) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.07.006 · Cited by 8
Clift, L. D. (2015) · Digital Commons (Liberty University) · Cited by 8
The impact of leaders' spirituality at work and their reputation on teams' spiritual climate
Pandey, A., Chattopadhyay, D., & Bose, S. (2015) · International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management · doi:10.1504/ijicbm.2015.072429 · Cited by 8
Gillem, A. R., Bartoli, E., Bertsch, K. N., McCarthy, M. A., Constant, K., Marrero‐Meisky, S., Robbins, S. J., & Bellamy, S. L. (2016) · Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development · doi:10.1002/jmcd.12047 · Cited by 8
Raees, M., Khan, V.-J., Lykourentzou, I., & Papangelis, K. (2026) · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3772318.3791467 · Cited by 5
Reflection for learning: teaching reflective practice at the beginning of university study
Pretorius, L., & Ford, A. (2021) · Monash University · doi:10.26180/4141926 · Cited by 60
“Furthermore, self-assessment is considered more accurate if there is an appropriate delay between learning the skill and conducting the self-testing exercise (Dunning et al., 2004).”
Background(1994) · PubMed · Cited by 30
Metadata
- Authors
- Dunning, D., Heath, C., & Suls, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Cornell University (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- University of Iowa (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Science in the Public Interest
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2004-12
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 69-106
- ISSN
- 1539-6053 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-1006
- OpenAlex
- W2139736795
- Cited by
- 1,865
- References
- 310
- Citations by year
- 2026: 107 · 2025: 89 · 2024: 104 · 2023: 76 · 2022: 104 · 2021: 103 · 2020: 110 · 2019: 114 · 2018: 113 · 2017: 98 · 2016: 102 · 2015: 111 · 2014: 99 · 2013: 82 · 2012: 90
- FWCI
- 35.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Gothic.net (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (9910592)
- National Institute of Mental Health (RO1 56072)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Education › Student Assessment and Feedback
- Keywords
- self-assessment, overconfidence, above-average effect, self-prediction, self-efficacy, health risk perception, self-diagnosis, student self-assessment, skill retention, massed practice, CEO overconfidence, management decision-making, feedback, self-knowledge, self-regulation, self-monitoring
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
