TY - JOUR
T1 - The psychology of being a beginner
AU - Sanchez, Carmen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - Beginners are plagued with overconfidence. They perform the worst on tests of knowledge or skill and yet are the most overconfident. One would expect that learning would better calibrate beginners and lead to better quality decisions. However, learning can instead produce overconfidence. In this article I discuss how being beginner can lead to errors in self-assessments and riskier decisions. I review differences in beginner overconfidence in several places in the literature. First, the Dunning–Kruger Effect, which finds those with the least knowledge are the most overconfident. To be sure, beginners can range from rank beginners, those who have acquired no knowledge, to experienced beginners, beginners who having gained some but not vast knowledge. Next, I discuss the beginner's bubble that follows the trajectory of confidence and overconfidence as people transition from rank to experienced beginners. The beginner's bubble pattern finds rank beginners have insight into their poor abilities. However, with some learning there is a surge of confidence and overconfidence. Lastly, I explore differences in confidence and overconfidence as learners transition from rank to experienced beginners in other places in the literature.
AB - Beginners are plagued with overconfidence. They perform the worst on tests of knowledge or skill and yet are the most overconfident. One would expect that learning would better calibrate beginners and lead to better quality decisions. However, learning can instead produce overconfidence. In this article I discuss how being beginner can lead to errors in self-assessments and riskier decisions. I review differences in beginner overconfidence in several places in the literature. First, the Dunning–Kruger Effect, which finds those with the least knowledge are the most overconfident. To be sure, beginners can range from rank beginners, those who have acquired no knowledge, to experienced beginners, beginners who having gained some but not vast knowledge. Next, I discuss the beginner's bubble that follows the trajectory of confidence and overconfidence as people transition from rank to experienced beginners. The beginner's bubble pattern finds rank beginners have insight into their poor abilities. However, with some learning there is a surge of confidence and overconfidence. Lastly, I explore differences in confidence and overconfidence as learners transition from rank to experienced beginners in other places in the literature.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124600578&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85124600578&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/spc3.12659
DO - 10.1111/spc3.12659
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85124600578
SN - 1751-9004
VL - 16
JO - Social and Personality Psychology Compass
JF - Social and Personality Psychology Compass
IS - 4
M1 - e12659
ER -