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49 - Self- and Other-Estimates of Intelligence

from Part IX - Folk Conceptions of Intelligence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2019

By
Aljoscha C. Neubauer  and
Gabriela Hofer
Edited by
Robert J. Sternberg
Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

It is a widely held view that “nobody knows you better than yourself.” However, the low validity of self-estimates of intelligence and other abilities indicated by a considerable body of research does not support this notion. Individuals overestimate themselves and do so particularly for domains in which they perform poorly (the so-called Dunning-Kruger effect). Interestingly, intelligence estimates given by others are equally accurate or sometimes even more accurate than self-estimates. This chapter provides an overview of research on self- and other-estimates of intelligence and potential moderators of their accuracy. It also aims to bring the research lines on self- and other-estimates of intelligence together within the framework of the self-other knowledge asymmetry (SOKA) model proposed by Simine Vazire. The ability to predict for which intelligence subfactors one of the two perspectives might provide more accurate estimates has implications for both research and practical fields like vocational counseling.

Keywords

self-knowledgeself-estimatesother-estimatesoverconfidenceself-other knowledge asymmetry (SOKA)Dunning-Kruger effectintelligence
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence , pp. 1179 - 1200
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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