Editorial: Dunning-Kruger Effect Takes Center Stage On Social Media

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or ability in a specific area. This tends to occur because a lack of self-awareness prevents them from accurately assessing their own skills.

According to Psychology Today, many people would describe themselves as above average in intelligence, humor, and a variety of skills. They can’t accurately judge their own competence because they lack metacognition, or the ability to step back and examine themselves objectively. In fact, those who are the least skilled are also the most likely to overestimate their abilities.

The term was inspired by a 1995 bank robber who smeared lemon juice on his face, thinking it made him invisible. The researchers investigated why incompetent people often fail to recognize their own incompetence. The 1995 case of McArthur Wheeler, who believed that because lemon juice is used as invisible ink, it would make his face invisible to surveillance cameras.

Psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger popularized the term in 1999 when studying the failed bank robbery.

Social media has exposed many who suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect, as they certainly ‘get ahead of their skis’ when speaking on matters in which they are not well-versed. Of course, some posts on social media are just to rile other online readers. Then, there are those who simply ‘don’t know what they don’t know.’