Dunning-Kruger effect

American  

[duhn-ing--kroo-ger i-fekt] / ˈdʌn ɪŋ ˈkru gər ɪˌfɛkt /

noun

Psychology.

1. the theory that a person who lacks skill or expertise also lacks the insight to accurately evaluate this deficit, resulting in a persistent inflation of estimated competence in self-assessments.

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Etymology

Origin of Dunning-Kruger effect

First recorded in 2000–05; named after David Dunning (born 1950) and Justin Kruger, U.S. social psychologists, following their article “Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments” (1999), and defined by Dunning in his article “The Dunning–Kruger Effect: On Being Ignorant of One's Own Ignorance” (2011)

Example Sentences

Its domain refers to the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias concept in which people with little knowledge in a given area overestimate what they know.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 23, 2024

The Dunning-Kruger effect is the idea that the least skilled people overestimate their abilities more than anyone else.

From Scientific American • May 23, 2023

The clinical name for this type of baseless bravado is the Dunning-Kruger effect.

From Washington Post • Mar. 22, 2023

The lesson from the Dunning-Kruger effect is that you should be extremely wary when assessing your expertise about anything, but especially about something that is a new area of learning for you.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

We're also living now in a time when we can see the danger of a Dunning-Kruger effect — I'm right, I know I'm right, I know exactly what's going to happen.

From Salon • Feb. 20, 2022