<p>Have you been wondering why your less capable colleague got a promotion over you? Maybe, it was overconfidence that made him win!<br /><br /></p>.<p>According to a new study, people who are overconfident and believe they are better than the rest are placed higher in the social ladder even if they are incompetent.<br /><br />Researchers from the University of California Berkeley found that people who believed they were better were given a higher place in the social ladder.<br /><br />“Our studies found that overconfidence helped people attain social status. People who believed they were better than others, even when they weren’t, were given a higher place in the social ladder. And the motive to attain higher social status thus spurred overconfidence,” Cameron Anderson, associate professor at Haas School said.<br /><br />Social status was defined as the respect, prominence, and influence individuals enjoy in the eyes of others.<br /><br />The study suggested why in organisational settings, incompetent people are so often promoted over their more competent peers.<br /><br />“In organisations, people are very easily swayed by others’ confidence even when that confidence is unjustified,” Anderson said. “Displays of confidence are given an inordinate amount of weight,” Anderson added in a statement.<br /><br />Anderson said the findings are important because they help shed light on a longstanding puzzle: why overconfidence is so common, in spite of its risks. His findings suggest that falsely believing one is better than others has profound social benefits for the individual.<br /><br />The study conducted six experiments to measure why people become overconfident and how overconfidence equates to a rise in social stature. In one study they examined 242 MBA students in their project teams and asked them to look over a list of historical names, historical events, and books and poems, and then to identify which ones they knew or recognised.<br /><br />Terms included Maximilien Robespierre, Lusitania, Wounded Knee, Pygmalion, and Doctor Faustus. Some of the names were even made up. These so-called “foils” included Bonnie Prince Lorenzo, Queen Shaddock, Galileo Lovano, Murphy’s Last Ride, and Windemere Wild.<br /></p>
<p>Have you been wondering why your less capable colleague got a promotion over you? Maybe, it was overconfidence that made him win!<br /><br /></p>.<p>According to a new study, people who are overconfident and believe they are better than the rest are placed higher in the social ladder even if they are incompetent.<br /><br />Researchers from the University of California Berkeley found that people who believed they were better were given a higher place in the social ladder.<br /><br />“Our studies found that overconfidence helped people attain social status. People who believed they were better than others, even when they weren’t, were given a higher place in the social ladder. And the motive to attain higher social status thus spurred overconfidence,” Cameron Anderson, associate professor at Haas School said.<br /><br />Social status was defined as the respect, prominence, and influence individuals enjoy in the eyes of others.<br /><br />The study suggested why in organisational settings, incompetent people are so often promoted over their more competent peers.<br /><br />“In organisations, people are very easily swayed by others’ confidence even when that confidence is unjustified,” Anderson said. “Displays of confidence are given an inordinate amount of weight,” Anderson added in a statement.<br /><br />Anderson said the findings are important because they help shed light on a longstanding puzzle: why overconfidence is so common, in spite of its risks. His findings suggest that falsely believing one is better than others has profound social benefits for the individual.<br /><br />The study conducted six experiments to measure why people become overconfident and how overconfidence equates to a rise in social stature. In one study they examined 242 MBA students in their project teams and asked them to look over a list of historical names, historical events, and books and poems, and then to identify which ones they knew or recognised.<br /><br />Terms included Maximilien Robespierre, Lusitania, Wounded Knee, Pygmalion, and Doctor Faustus. Some of the names were even made up. These so-called “foils” included Bonnie Prince Lorenzo, Queen Shaddock, Galileo Lovano, Murphy’s Last Ride, and Windemere Wild.<br /></p>