Is overconfidence an individual difference?

Some scholars have treated overconfidence as an individual difference—that is, assuming the tendency to be overconfident is stable within a person and differs meaningfully from person to person. We question this assumption. We investigate consistency within individuals between its three forms—overes...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sophia Li, Randall Hale, Don A. Moore
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2025-01-01
Series:Judgment and Decision Making
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297525000117/type/journal_article
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850155332446191616
author Sophia Li
Randall Hale
Don A. Moore
author_facet Sophia Li
Randall Hale
Don A. Moore
author_sort Sophia Li
collection DOAJ
description Some scholars have treated overconfidence as an individual difference—that is, assuming the tendency to be overconfident is stable within a person and differs meaningfully from person to person. We question this assumption. We investigate consistency within individuals between its three forms—overestimation, overplacement, and overprecision—in multiple domains (Study 1a and 1b), at multiple times (Study 1b and 2), and with multiple measures (Study 3a and 3b). We find mixed evidence of trait-like consistency. We do find some evidence of within-individual stability across domains and time points. However, we find little consistency across different measures of the same form of overconfidence—specifically overprecision. Instead, we find more consistent evidence that overconfidence varies situationally and contextually.
format Article
id doaj-art-2eba9be599024faf9fb1a954fc44e6d9
institution OA Journals
issn 1930-2975
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Cambridge University Press
record_format Article
series Judgment and Decision Making
spelling doaj-art-2eba9be599024faf9fb1a954fc44e6d92025-08-20T02:24:58ZengCambridge University PressJudgment and Decision Making1930-29752025-01-012010.1017/jdm.2025.11Is overconfidence an individual difference?Sophia Li0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9165-4493Randall Hale1Don A. Moore2Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USADepartment of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USAHaas School of Business, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USASome scholars have treated overconfidence as an individual difference—that is, assuming the tendency to be overconfident is stable within a person and differs meaningfully from person to person. We question this assumption. We investigate consistency within individuals between its three forms—overestimation, overplacement, and overprecision—in multiple domains (Study 1a and 1b), at multiple times (Study 1b and 2), and with multiple measures (Study 3a and 3b). We find mixed evidence of trait-like consistency. We do find some evidence of within-individual stability across domains and time points. However, we find little consistency across different measures of the same form of overconfidence—specifically overprecision. Instead, we find more consistent evidence that overconfidence varies situationally and contextually.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297525000117/type/journal_articleoverconfidenceindividual differencesoverestimationoverplacementoverprecision
spellingShingle Sophia Li
Randall Hale
Don A. Moore
Is overconfidence an individual difference?
Judgment and Decision Making
overconfidence
individual differences
overestimation
overplacement
overprecision
title Is overconfidence an individual difference?
title_full Is overconfidence an individual difference?
title_fullStr Is overconfidence an individual difference?
title_full_unstemmed Is overconfidence an individual difference?
title_short Is overconfidence an individual difference?
title_sort is overconfidence an individual difference
topic overconfidence
individual differences
overestimation
overplacement
overprecision
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297525000117/type/journal_article
work_keys_str_mv AT sophiali isoverconfidenceanindividualdifference
AT randallhale isoverconfidenceanindividualdifference
AT donamoore isoverconfidenceanindividualdifference