When describing someone as having confidence, what words do you use? Depending on the circumstances, various words come to mind: bold, decisive, assured, calm, positive, assertive, secure and courageous. Conversely, someone who lacks confidence might be described as timid, indecisive, uncertain, negative, passive, insecure and cowardly.
“Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.” – Vince Lombardi
Based on these synonymous and antonymous adjectives, confidence has desirable connotations, but is there a such a thing as having too much confidence? The resounding answer is yes, and it’s not a good thing. Overconfidence has its own definition, “excessively or unreasonably confident,” and the words associated with someone who’s overly confident have strongly negative connotations: arrogant, careless, reckless, presumptuous, smug, delusional, etc.
More than just words, research has identified what’s known as the overconfidence effect in which someone’s confidence in their own judgments is “reliably greater than the objective accuracy of those judgments, especially when confidence is relatively high.”
“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” – Charles Darwin
This cognitive bias has been further defined in three different ways: “(1) overestimation of one’s actual performance; (2) overplacement of one’s performance relative to others; and (3) overprecision in expressing unwarranted certainty in the accuracy of one’s beliefs.”
We’ve all had experiences in which we’ve misjudged our performance as being better than it actually was (overestimation). At what point do you realize that your judgments don’t match objective reality? Does it happen routinely?
When comparing yourself to your colleagues, do you rank yourself higher than deserved (overplacement)? How do you reconcile the value you place on yourself when a more objective measure does not rank you as highly?
When certain about your beliefs, what’s the basis for your confidence? Can you afford to be wrong or admit your mistakes? Why is this important? Because your confidence in your judgments and abilities, regardless of their objective accuracy, influences your behavior.
“Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
In a previous post, I suggested a taking a confidence test. Years ago, I took one that prioritized actions over feelings and attributed differences to gender: “…where men and women are faced with doubt and must choose how to respond. Doubt causes men to act. Doubt causes women to pause.” Interesting. So how did I score? “HIGH You probably feel up to most challenges, and are likely to embrace more risk and action than most. You feel you can solve problems or make things happen. Most of the time, you are able to cope and deal with just about any challenge life throws at you – both key attributes of confidence.” Based on that, I did not feel the need to enroll in their $149 online course that vaguely promised to increase my confidence.