Overconfidence Effect

Often we come across people who are overconfident, egotistic and stubborn. Generally, these people have the so called "superiority complex" of being far better than others. It is important to be confident but overconfidence makes you egoistic and irritating. Bragging about your qualities and achievements will not make you reach anywhere; rather, you will earn disrespect form your colleagues and friends.

The overconfidence effect refers to the human tendency to be more confident in one's behaviors, attributes and physical characteristics than one ought to be. Many of us find that there are some tasks which are pretty simple and they don't want to waste their time on it. That is where the danger of overconfidence comes in. Since it's so simple, why not just put it off? You can just finish it with minimal effort later?

The key thing to realize is that the task is only easy assuming you use your resources and ability fully. You might think walking across the street is an easy task, but what if I tell you it has to be done within 5 seconds and you can only use one foot? It suddenly becomes a much harder task! An overconfident person might say that this task is easy but may find it to his dismay that he has not been able to achieve it.

Psychologists have determined that overconfidence causes people to overestimate their knowledge, underestimate risks, and exaggerate their ability to control events. It has been found that over-confidence is the greatest when accuracy is near chance-levels. Over-confidence can be handled in a positive manner as well, to achieve better results.

Overconfidence is not good and one should avoid it. It can actually lead to destruction as compared to being positive. It is important to be confident but not being over-confident!