You Think You're Better Than Me?

"Just One More Thing..." is a short-form way that I share ideas, questions and guidance with more substance than a LinkedIn post and less academic rigor than my articles. I hope you find it valuable.

If you’ve read my thoughts on self-reviews in performance management1 or self-ratings on 360s2, you know that I’m not a fan. I base my opposition on the conclusively proven fact that human beings consistently over-rate themselves.

It’s not that we sometime over-rate themselves. The best research on the topic says we almost always over-rate ourselves. It’s so pervasive and consistent that academics have even given it a name: the Better-Than-Average-Effect (BTAE).

Four very above-average researchers reviewed 124 studies on self-perceptions which included nearly 1 million participants3. They found incredibly consistent findings on the BTAE, including that:

People generally considered themselves better than others in:
      • Attribute and traits like personal generosity, kindness, dependability, intelligence, leadership, physical attractiveness, morality, athleticism, honesty and the ability to get along with others. People will rate themselves high on a list of positive attributes and low on a list of negative attributes.
      • Skills and abilities like driving ability, investing, academic ability, medical skills, sports ability and vocational skills. There was, surprisingly, a negative relationship with confidence in specific skills where people might easily recognize their weakness, like juggling or a very specific task.

Cultural differences mattered a little
The BTAE was larger in studies that involved “European Americans compared to East Asians, particularly for individualistic traits. This difference reflects cultural variations in self-perception and the value placed on individualism versus collectivism.”

Positive self-esteem and life satisfaction
Those who considered themselves to be above average often show higher levels of self-esteem and happiness. This suggests that greater ignorance of our actual abilities and skills is literally bliss.

Demographics didn’t matter except for age
Women and men showed up as equally delusional in this analysis. There were no differences by race. Age mattered as shown by a steady decline in BTAE as we age. A 70-year old was half as likely to demonstrate this attitude as was a 20-year old.

So what?
Objectivity, not inclusivity, should be our goal when assessing an individual. Given both the current study and a very long history of similar findings, HR and line leaders should view anything that involves self-assessment with extreme caution.

We sometimes hear that there’s value in individuals seeing the gap between their ratings and others. The science suggests there is not. People typically don’t move towards other’s ratings, they either ignore them or explain them away.

Be a careful consumer. You’re not going to “fix” this pervasive human tendency. Your best bet is to not fall for the facile logic that knowing what the least accurate observer says actually matters.

References:

1. Effron, Marc. "5 Reasons to Eliminate the Self Review." https://talentstrategygroup.com/5-reasons-to-eliminate-the-self-review/

2. Effron, Marc. “Why 360s Don’t Work and How to Fix Them.” https://talentstrategygroup.com/why-360s-dont-work-and-how-to-fix-them/

3. Zell, Ethan, Jason E. Strickhouser, Constantine Sedikides, and Mark D. Alicke. "The better-than-average effect in comparative self-evaluation: A comprehensive review and meta-analysis." Psychological bulletin 146, no. 2 (2020): 118.