At times, we tend to think of ourselves as smarter, funnier, kinder, and paradoxically, even more modest than we truly are. This is called the Dunning-Kruger effect. But in psychology is it known as the Superiority Illusion.

In 1995, McArthur Wheeler robbed two banks in Pittsburgh in broad daylight wearing no mask. He was identified from security cameras. When police asked him about it, he said he rubbed lemon juice on his face. It supposedly should have worked as an invisible ink. He tested it before the robbery by putting juice on his face and then taking a Polaroid picture - it showed no face. Let's just say this man is as good at robbery as photography.

A few psychologists, Justin Kruger and David Dunning, were so intrigued by McArthur Wheeler's funny robbery story that they held a social experiment with psychology undergraduate students. They performed problem-solving tests using logic, analysis of grammar, and assessment of whether jokes were funny. Surprisingly, the results revealed that those who scored the lowest overestimated their performance. In their research paper, Dunning and Kruger wrote that "…people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it." The phenomenon subsequently became known as the Dunning–Kruger effect, sometimes called ‘the unskilled and unaware effect.’

It is also interesting that the Dunning-Kruger effect involves smart people underestimating themselves.

Unfortunately, the Dunning-Kruger effect is part of being human. The good news for us is that it can be remediable. "Paradoxically, improving the skills of the participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities," Dunning and Kruger wrote in their paper.

Perceiving yourself to be better than you are is also linked to optimism. It is considered by many to be one of the most desirable traits to have. We just don't want that negativity. However, according to Leuven University’s Vera Hoorens and colleagues, it can come at a price: "It may make you look naïve, and you may be in for disappointment when your sunny predictions fail to materialize." 

Another pitfall linked to optimism emerges when you become ensnared by the hubris hypothesis. According to the above mentioned Belgian scientists, it involves "comparing yourself favorably and explicitly with other people. This leads others to believe that you hold disparaging attitudes toward them because you’re letting them know that you think of yourself as superior. It’s a particular form of pride in which the claims you make about your worth come at the expense of acknowledging that of other people." 

So it's not positivity or negativity, arrogance or modesty that matters. It is the fine balance between all those things. Keep scrolling to see all those 'not so modest' people, as featured on r/notliketheothergirls. When you're done, feel free to delve into our previous posts about the subreddit here, here, and here.