Well, this is rich.
Research published online Monday in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that people in higher social classes tend to think they are more adept at certain tasks — even when they are not — than their lower-class peers. And that overconfidence is often seen by others as competence, which can help them in situations like job interviews, the research reveals.
This research was actually made up of multiple studies with more than 152,000 participants. In the first, the researchers obtained class information (income, education and perceived social standing in society) for 150,000 small-business owners in Mexico who were applying for loans; they were given a cognitive matching test and asked how they performed. People with more education, income and higher social class had “an exaggerated” belief that they performed better, the researchers revealed.
Another study, done online with upward of 1,400 participants, came to a similar conclusion: On a trivia test, the people in the higher social class thought they did better than others even when they did not.
And this could have real implications for what jobs people get — or don’t get — another one of the studies revealed. In this one, the researchers had participants answer trivia questions and found that those in a higher social class thought they did better, even though on average they didn’t. But what’s more, when participants in this study were then asked to do a mock job interview that was videotaped, those in the higher social classes seemed more confident, and the judges watching the video then rated those same people as more competent.
“Individuals with relatively high social class were more overconfident, which in turn was associated with being perceived as more competent and ultimately more hirable, even though, on average, they were no better at the trivia test than their lower-class counterparts,” said lead researcher Peter Belmi, of the University of Virginia.
The implications of this research could be far-reaching: “Our research suggests that social class shapes the attitudes that people hold about their abilities and that, in turn, has important implications for how class hierarchies perpetuate from one generation to the next,” Belmi said.
And this is far from the only study showing that confident people get perks. Indeed, multiple studies show that, at least in the sports world, confidence can actually help performance. Other studies show that it can help academic performance as well.
The good news? There are ways for everyone to boost their confidence. “There are many ways to feel confident — exercising, writing affirmations, and even helping others can make us feel good about ourselves,” Belmi tells MarketWatch. “To appear confident, try speaking up more when you are in social groups; and when you speak, take your time, be calm and relaxed, and use a factual vocal tone. Try to avoid hesitating when speaking. Stand tall and use your body to take up space.” And this article from Entrepreneur offers interesting advice on the topic too, including learning to reframe your thoughts about yourself into positive ones, and altering your expectations so that you learn to expect positive things to happen.
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