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

That’s a reference to the Dunning-Kruger effect — you know, the tendency of those willfully or unalterably ignorant to vastly overestimate their abilities and/or intelligence.

From Salon

The Dunning-Kruger effect is the tendency for people to overestimate their level of knowledge in a subject they know little about.

From Salon

However, what we've seen recently with his foray into government is a good example of the Dunning-Kruger effect: a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their general abilities.

From Salon

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

His endless claims to know more than anyone else on every imaginable topic stand as peerless examples of the Dunning-Kruger effect, and his mental faculties have clearly continued to erode.

From Salon