Research has shown that Americans are bad at assessing their performance and skills. Apparently, part of our national character ”” optimism ”” keeps us from interpreting feedback accurately. And our overconfidence results in errors that are sometimes critical.
When youngsters are schooled in a ‘warm and secure cocoon’ that deemphasizes individual achievement in order to ensure that the least energetic/inquisitive/intelligent member of a class does not feel ‘left out,’ then those youngsters are quite likely going to have an overinflated ‘sense of themselves.’
When illiterate and mathematically incompetent younsters are promoted from grade-to-grade and then graduated from high school, the situation only becomes worse.
There are dozens of majors, from anthropology to zoology, which are tracked and studied as to GPA, SAT, GRE, and other indicators. Of all these, with one exception, education majors have the highest GPA and the lowest SAT and GRE scores. Considering that these folks are now running our schools, it explains much.
APB:
(1) What’s your source, please?
(2) What’s the one exception?
I think it’s more apropos to recognize that incompetent people tend to overestimate their competence because they aren’t proficient enough to understand their limitations.
I am a financial genius. With great skill and insight, I study the stock market daily. So why is there only $327 in my bank account? Shouldn’t there be, um, millions? It is a complete puzzlement to me.