Dunning-Kruger effect

noun

Dun·​ning-Kru·​ger effect ˈdə-niŋ-ˈkrü-gər- 

psychology

: the tendency of individuals with little to no expertise or knowledge in a particular area to overestimate their abilities and competence and of individuals with substantial expertise or knowledge in a particular area to underestimate their abilities and competence

The Dunning-Kruger effect is especially prominent in politics. Politicians who overestimate their expertise on complicated matters might push for overly simplistic solutions or ignore expert advice, leading to ineffective or harmful policies. … Meanwhile, qualified individuals might doubt their abilities and shy away from public service, missing opportunities to contribute.

—Dan Pilat and Sekoul Krastev

Note: In popular, mainstream usage, Dunning-Kruger effect typically refers to the tendency of individuals with little or no expertise to overestimate their abilities and competence.

Perhaps no industry is more susceptible to the Dunning-Kruger effect than residential real estate. People routinely overestimate their own real-estate expertise when buying and selling a home.

—Tracy McLaughlin

There was an entire television series devoted to those people called "Canada's Worst Driver," and it demonstrated the Dunning-Kruger effect very effectively. Stars of the show insisted they were skilled operators all the while demonstrating hair-raising and grossly incompetent driving abilities.

—Morgan Wilson

Word History

Etymology

after David Dunning (born 1960) and Justin Kruger (born circa 1971), American psychologists who proposed it

Note: The initial description by Dunning and Kruger was in the article "Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 77, issue 6 (December, 1999), pp. 1121-34.

First Known Use

2007, in the meaning defined above