How Confident Are You?

March 20, 2017

Interview with Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, PhD, author of the book Confidence

Mike Carruthers: Low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence are problems that get talked about a lot but the real problem may be just the opposite.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic: There are a lot more people in the over-confidence bracket or category than in the under-confidence bracket. Most people think that they are much better than average which is statistically impossible.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, PhD, author of the book Confidence…

So if you ask people whether they think that they are better drivers than average 80 or 90% of people would say yes. If you ask them whether they’re better lovers and have a good sense of humor – in all these domains the overwhelming majority of people sees themselves as being much better than the average person.

Tomas says over-confidence is a problem all over the world with a few exceptions.

The only place where people are a little bit more modest would be in many Asian countries.

The whole point here is that having confidence can be an asset but only if you have the competence to back it up.

It is true that confident people are often seen as charming, charismatic and likeable but when we proceed that their confidence is unwarranted, when we see them as arrogant then we don’t like them as much. On the contrary when we have people who come across as too humble or too modest for how good they actually are that makes them more likeable.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, PhD

Click to buy at Amazon.com