This article explores the idea that American citizens are more overconfident and proud of their self-worth than ever before. I thought that this article was very interesting because its applications can be seen on both a grand scale (like comparing countries' math scores to each other) and on smaller scales, like what's playing on our radio stations (Pretty Girl Rock, anyone? http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/kerihilson/prettygirlrock.html)
What has made Americans' self-confidence swell so much over the last few decades? Think about what confidence may have looked like in the 1950s and what (over)confidence looks like now in 2011. Has America's independence finally gotten too much to our heads? Are recent parenting styles to blame--never allowing a child to fail so that when that child becomes an adult, he/she expects nothing less than perfection? Why else might America's problem with overconfidence seem so gigantic when compared to countries like Japan and Switzerland and Morocco? Is it nature or nurture, genetic or cultural? Look back at concepts of personality (self-esteem, self-concept, self serving bias, individualistic vs. collectivist societies). What do you think?
While reading this article the psychology concept that stood out in my mind the most was self-serving bias. The article explained that ninety-Four percent of professors believe they have above- average teaching skills. This is an extremely high number and similarly the article talked about how Americans believe their math skills are above average, when in reality they are not quite there. I’d agree with the article and say that there are some Americans who possess an extremely high level of confidence. However, I think the article made it seem as if ALL Americans are overconfident when in reality it is probably a select few. It over generalized the American population a little bit but I think the main idea of the article was accurate. I don’t think there is one factor that can be held responsible for this increase in confidence. It can be attributed to a variety of factors, specifically new parenting styles. The generation of parents today pursues a helicopter parenting style, constantly hovering over their child’s move. After hearing my dad talk about his childhood I have a pretty good picture of what it was like when he was growing up. Children were sent outside early in the morning to play, not returning until it was dark. They were given total freedom to try whatever they wanted. Currently the parenting style is quite the opposite. Parents do everything to prevent their children from failing but this actually hurts them and makes them believe they are perfect children. It does not prepare them for the real world where failing can be almost a daily occurrence.
ReplyDeleteCulturally speaking Americans also possess an attitude that they are greater than people from any other country. They have this attitude of superiority that can be due in part to the fact that we are always hearing these messages about how America is so great. In many of President Obama’s speeches we can hear how progressive America is and how great of a place it is to live in. Although America is a great place, constantly hearing this has given way to our overconfident attitude. Our overconfidence attitude is more nurture and cultural then genetic. Being in an individualistic society, our self-esteem is at an extremely high level.
Americans’ self confidence is continuing to rise over the last decades. I think it has to do with a multitude reasons. One of the reasons is the way our parents raise us and in the environment. I see parents typically in these times today try to make sure their children do well in life and not fail. They almost pressure their children so much and eventually the children are going to give up. I know my parents were allowed to just go home from school, do their homework and then just play leisurely outside with their friends, but now not so much by parents but society. Society pressures children like us to get involved in sports and practice, practice, practice in order to become the “next superstar.” Children then take in the mindset that they are the best and become too confident. That could back fire on them when let’s say they don’t make the traveling soccer team. They thought they were so confident that they were great when in reality they weren’t the best. I am sure that not as many Americans as they are saying are actually overconfident, but I think that more than the average citizen could imagine. Our culture and being brought up in the United States affects our self esteem. We tend to overestimate our confidence because we were brought up hearing how great and powerful the United States was. We cannot only blame our culture and parents (nurture), but also ourselves as individuals. I know everyone of us over estimates our intelligence ability when we take a test. We tend to think we did better than we actually do on the test, because we have the mind set especially in this school that we are well educated and will succeed on everything. A little time back I remember when Miss. Fuhrman told us to write down what we think we will get on our next vocabulary quiz and then to look it at that written down grade once we get our grade back. Most of us I am sure scored ourselves higher than what we actually got. This clearly demonstrates the self serving bias that we see ourselves as above average. Our overconfidence leads us to having a really high self esteem. Maybe we tend to rate our selves higher (as well as those other countries along with us) than people in China, etc. because we are given so many more resources, and technology to make us become overconfident. China on the other hand, isn’t given that stuff to boost their confidence, but rather do better on the math tests. China and those other countries are given the knowledge and passing/ well achieved grade on the math tests which then boosts their confidence and doesn’t take it to extremity.
ReplyDeleteSelf-serving bias at its finest! I completely agree with you on the conceitedness in “Pretty Girl Rock” – it actually came up in conversation yesterday. “All eyes on me when I walk in”…could we be any more stuck up? The spotlight effect definitely comes into play here. We all like to think that everyone is admiring our new dress or new hair when we walk in the room, but in reality this is not the case. Sorry Keri! As the article stated, we would never hear songs about pop singers’ “own prowess” decades ago, but now this trend is nothing unusual. As Americans, we are way too over-confident. The survey results in the article were rather shocking. 70% of high school students say that they have above average leadership skills. How could it possibly be that 70% is above average? Clearly there is something wrong with our way of thinking; however, if anyone tries to tell us our errors, we tend to become angry and defensive. No one likes to be told that they aren’t the center of attention, and no one like to be told that they are not the best or the brightest. On the global scale, America is not the leader in math; however, we are the leader in thinking we are the best at math, amongst many other areas. I tend to agree with the argument that modern child-rearing and educational techniques have produced “praise addicts.”
ReplyDeleteThis idea reminds me of a conversation we were having in Calculus, and I think Mr. Millard brought up a really good point. He said that in today’s society, everyone is considered “a winner” and, therefore, everyone’s confidence is constantly being boosted. The problem with this is that children are no longer being raised to understand that they simply cannot be the best at everything. These children must be aware that in the real world, everyone is not a winner, and they need to be well-equipped to handle criticism and defeat. I have personally seen “everyone’s a winner” concept growing in my own life. When I was in eighth grade, trying out for the cheerleading squad or basketball team was a very competitive thing, and only a very small group of girls and boys were chosen for the teams. However, the situation has changed in recent years. Now, every student who wants to be on the team is automatically selected, and no one is judged on their individual skill level. It’s great to have a confidence boost, but being over-confident can be problematic in the real world.
When the AP test pamphlets were handed out in homeroom last week or so, I was discussing the probability of doing well on the tests with a few other classmates. What I realized then was that (somewhat dangerously) none of us were worried about our respective tests because other IHA students had consistently done well on the tests in previous years. Though everyone (vaguely) knew that the tests are graded so that an equal number of students who got 4s and 5s also got 1s and 2s, we were all confident that we would not fail because we were part of a group -- IHA girls -- who had not failed. For similar reasons, I can definitely guess why it is America whose overconfidence is rising, as opposed to a number of other nations. The United States are widely regarded as one of the largest powers in the world: we are influential in politics, industry, technology, and more. We Americans, regarding ourselves as members of the world's greatest nation, analogically also see ourselves as the world's greatest people to an extent. Americans on the whole can be a bit self-centered -- take, for example, why the majority of us travel abroad expecting to be speaking American English. For the most part, we only pursue learning another nation's language in high school, with a partly-true notion that all other people will learn to speak OUR language fluently so we don't have to bother with theirs. Though it seems a bit paradoxical that this arise from a strongly individualist nation, I think that our overconfidence arises somewhat from our collective identity. We are Americans; thus, we are powerful, we are models, we are unconquerable. I think that this patriotic mindset translates into our everyday attitudes: we still think that we are superior, even when stacked against fellow Americans. And perhaps our confidence is what makes us so progressive and flourishing -- only people who have bold faith in themselves and their abilities (take the headache that is everything FDR did in his first 100 days of office, for my history classmates) will take the risk to push boundaries and become extraordinary; it's the self-serving bias at work. Why is this attitude rising in the US, especially when our international position has been firmly near the top for quite some time? With a rivaling China edging closer and closer near our spot at the height of global power, perhaps we respond to this threat with a persistent overconfidence -- maybe intentionally, for those of us familiar with the self-serving bias, or as an instinctive reaction.
ReplyDeleteI am not at all surprised after reading this article. I have always believed that people tend to be overconfident. It is often common that parents are overconfident in their child's ability and believe their child to be the best at whatever they do. But also, as children grow up into teenagers and young adults, they adopt this mindset that no one is better than they are. Parents have become too controlling of their children. They choose what their child is going to do in their free time, for example sports. Since I have played a lot of sports and have been part of many different teams I often see parents who believe their child is the best. My dad has been the coach of my travel soccer team since I was in second grade. I remember not too long ago, my one friend didn't get a lot of playing time during the games. It wasn't because my dad didn't like her, rather it was because she was on a lower level than the other players and probably the weakest player on the team. However, my friend's parents didn't see the real reason why she wasn't playing, they believed that she was better than most of the girls on the team. The parents believed she was an amazing soccer play, when in reality she was pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteI think what has made Americans' self-confidence swell so much over the last few decades is parental influence and, on a larger level, our world power. Since the 1950s, the U.S. has emerged as a great world power, dominating over every other country. We have access to much more resources than many other countries which could also lead to our overconfidence. From listening to my parent's stories, I can safely say their parents weren't hovering over them, constantly telling them what to do. They were able to go out and play all day, with one rule- to return by dark. Now, parents have more access to ways to constantly keep check of us. For example, my brother goes to Bergen Catholic and they have an online program in which parents are able to look at all their child's grades. Imagine how much more our parents would be nagging us to do better if they saw every one of our grades? Parents never want their child to fail and believe their child is perfect. This can be the explanation to why so many teens are overconfident. I believe that overconfidence is nurture. Parents influence children to grow up believing that they are the best at everything they do.
Katie--excellent article! Especially coming off of the personality chapter. You are all spot on with the idea of self-serving bias and overconfidence (Mariel). All I keep thinking about is Lady Gaga and Born This Way. Her mission is to be a role model for the oppressed...to help them gain confidence. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteThe first few lines of this article shocked me. “Ninety-four percent of college professors believe they have above-average teaching skills” and “A survey of high school students found that 70 percent of them have above-average leadership skills”. How is that even possible? These statements show the self-serving bias so well. Americans tend to think of themselves more highly than they actually are. An example from the article is that Americans tend to think of themselves really good and math, but they do not do as well as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong on global math tests.
ReplyDeleteI think the whole overconfidence and self-serving bias begins in people’s homes. What I mean is parents now are crazy involved in their children’s lives. Parents now-a-days want to make their children into the next Shaquille O’Neal or Taylor Swift. This could turn into a bad thing for kids. This is because they are made to be so confident and when they do not get something they think they deserve, like the A+ or the starting position on the Varsity team, and then they will get really depressed. As Mariel said, this type of culture we have in the United States affects our self-esteem greatly.
Addressing Miss Fuhrman’s comment about Lady Gaga’s new song Born This Way. I think the majority of Americans have overconfidence; while a small percent of us suffer from not enough confidence. I think Lady Gaga wants to help the oppressed to be able to keep up in the society that we have built. It is a place where one needs total confidence to survive. Her fearless attitude shows people that we can just be who we are and not be afraid of the outcomes.
This is an interesting topic because we see it and act it out every day. At IHA I notice girls all of the time making comments that elude to them being better than everyone else. We all do it. I think I'm better at math then her or volleyball then her. Everything has turned into a competition from grades to sports to every day activities and chores. Because we have a competitive nature, we feel superior to everyone else because we aren't use to acceptably coming in second place. It could be behavioral. Parents teach their children to do the best 'they' can which later turns into the best that 'anyone' can. For example, if the best a child can do is a C- (let's be honest school isn't naturally for everyone) even though that's their 'best' it will not be accepted. Parents will be angry, tutors will be assigned, and the child will be completely discouraged. Is it really their fault that school isn't their thing? Of course not! School isn't the only thing in the world that can make a person successful! Look at Mark Zuckerberg for example, he dropped out of Harvard and is now the youngest billionaire in the world. However if he didn't create Facebook and just dropped out of school, he would be looked at as shameful and lazy. This obsession with perfection is really prevalent in our country and I have to wonder if it's like this everywhere else. I don't think any of us would really be able to make that assumption. Even so, I have to wonder if this attitude of over confidence is a Tri-State Area syndrome... My dad moved out to Pennsylvania for his first job and he always tells me how calm all of the people were. There seemed to be no rush and everything just moved so much slower. I feel like the over confidence problem is really prevalent near big city areas and good school systems like New York/New Jersey with the exception of colleges. The young and newly independent always have a false idea of reality until they become financially independent (which could be a problem in the voting system but that's another story).
ReplyDeleteThis is something Andrea and I talk about a lot because her boyfriend is very "America is the best at everything. forever" and we always argue that it is this attitude that is the reason why we're lagging behind so many countries academically. We've come to the conclusion that Americans strive for mediocrity. Take all those posters on the walls of your 4th grade classroom. "Nice try!" "just go for your best!" Nice try? We've been applauding our whole lives for just trying and we're wondering why we're not that successful academically? In many schools, (maybe not IHA) students are patted on the back for just showing up to school! Remember that thing on Channel one that would give teenager girls money for NOT getting pregnant? Seriosuly?
ReplyDeleteEspecially where we live since Bergen County is so affluent. Advertisements take over our lives. "Buy this lipstick! you deserve it!" really? do I really deserve this lipstick? I doubt it. But that is what our culture has led us to believe. Our stress on individuality has been taken too far. Now we have this godlike complex, that we are naturally better than everyone else. this mindset will eventually destroy us as a nation.
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ReplyDeleteI think that it's possible to say that America's independence and status has gone too much to some Americans' heads. This leads to a large sense of entitlement and possibly the root of some Americans' negative attitude towards immigrants. This sense of superiority gives some Americans the idea that they are better or more deserving than those from other nations simply because of where they were born. It's great to feel a sense of pride and identification with your country, but just because the country you live in has progressive ideals and policies doesn't make the people who live there any better than those living in a country plagued by poverty and political turmoil. I think it's possible to say that recent parenting styles of insisting on perfection from their children effects the self-esteem of those children. I think that children who have parents who are heavily involved in their academic lives is probably highly correlated with good academic performance. At the same time, these children also probably have a higher correlation with high stress levels and performance anxiety. I think that America's self-concept may be one of the reasons why we're so involved internationally. If America sees itself as superior, it is more likely to expect that it can aid developing countries.
ReplyDeleteI think that this overconfidence comes largely from America being an individualistic society. We often focus on ourselves instead of doing things to benefit the group like in a collectivist society. This focus on the individual affects how parents raise their children. Parents praise their children as long as they try their best, which can lead to high self esteem. In some ways I feel this confidence can be a good thing because children are taught that they can do anything they put their minds to as long as they try and give it their best. I think this encourages people to set goals for themselves and be the best person they can be. This confidence can affect people in different ways. Some people may think that Americans are the best so they will strive to be the best. Others, especially teenage girls, will see celebrities and models praising themselves for being the best and will develop a low self esteem because they feel they can’t live up to that image. At the same time, a self serving bias exists that makes some people believe that they are the best so they stop trying to be better. Also it can lead to stereotyping and racism because overconfident Americans have an in-group bias and a sense of entitlement – that they are better than everyone else. Many aspects of pop culture foster overconfidence, but I think Lady Gaga’s Born this Way is a great song for people with low self confidence.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting to read because it brings up an issue that is most often overlooked. I completely agree with the fact that Americans are extremely overconfident. However, I feel like this article has a completely negative tone to this idea and I don’t completely agree with that. I think it is not a terrible thing to be overconfident because having this attitude on life will definitely help to build up a person’s self-esteem. I believe that this will allow a person to better fulfill their capabilities as a human because they will have the energy and confidence to do this.
ReplyDeleteI think this overconfidence does stem from the idea that America is an individualistic society instead of a collectivist society. Americans are truly out for the benefit of themselves and themselves only, so in this sense, the overconfidence is way too much. Americans are not worried about helping others as much as we should be and this is very concerning to read about. Songwriters are definitely prime examples of this overconfidence. The songs that are being written today are mostly about how “amazing” each artist is. This is extremely influencing teens and younger, so this overconfidence trait is continually spreading. Overconfidence can be looked at in a positive way, but a lot of times it is taken too far.
The timing of this article is perfect, because I was just having the conversation with someone (I think my brother) about how Americans are slowly falling behind the rest of the world in some academic areas. The statement that justifies everything we were talking about is “American students no longer perform particularly well in global math tests. But Americans are among the world leaders when it comes to thinking that we are really good at math.” We all think that we are challenging ourselves constantly and that we are smarter than everyone else, but in reality we are the ones falling behind. Maybe what we consider “challenging” is what others consider only a little challenging and they are striving for even better?
ReplyDeleteI think that the cultures play a huge role in this also. Many cultures (Eastern Cultures) put heavy influence on school and work whereas in America there is a heavy influence on school and work, but a lot of people/teachers are never willing to go in that awkward position of telling a child/student that they are wrong(it would be offensive…). In the United States (and I assume in other countries as well) there are parents on both ends of the spectrum. Some parents are heavily involved in their child’s academic life and others tend to stay out of it and let the child get whatever grades she works for on her own. I think that the parental influence on students may also have an impact on how confident students are.
One line from the article, “Students in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan have much less self-confidence, though they actually do better on the tests” was very interesting to me, because it makes me think that sometimes people tend to think they are so much better than they really are and end up not doing well in the long run, but people who do not boast about their skills make it farther and are not cocky.
Although I do agree with this article and how it says that we are overconfident, I think that it is too broad of a statement. If we were not (over)confident, then I don’t think the US would be at the stage it is today. We are constantly looking to be on top whether it is economically or technologically, and I think that this confidence is not solely harmful.
One thing that really stuck out to me was how confident Americans are regarding math. We believe that we are fantastic, and cannot get any better if we tried. However, this is simply not true. We have much room to improve, though we fail to see it. Other parts of the world are much farther ahead than we are, probably without even realizing it. I think that some of the reason for this is America’s overconfidence in themselves. Maybe they have tremendous confidence in themselves in this area and therefore feel no need to study hard at school or at work. Other people in the world probably have less confidence in their abilities and therefore work harder to get a good grade on the test. This is an example of confidence being destructive rather than constructive.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that really stuck out to me was the study that college students would prefer being complimented over having their favorite meal or having sex. This blew my mind – college students would forgo their comfort and personal preferences to be considered acceptable by someone else. This speaks to our need to have a certain self image and have other people see that same image.
This overconfidence in education has certainly spilled over into the American media. When I read this article, I immediately thought of the song “So What” by Pink. The song came out about two years ago, and at the time, Pink had just gone through a hard breakup. The song was in response to the breakup, and the lyrics were, “So What?/I’m still a rockstar/I got my rock moves/And I don’t need you tonight.” Yes, it is good that Pink had the confidence to get through the breakup and have high self esteem throughout. However, those lyrics seem a little self-indulgent to me. However, I must be in the minority – the song was a major hit. Plenty of people in America must have agreed with her and her way of thinking.
As soon as I read this article, it reminded me of my English research paper from last year. Essentially, I talked about how today's American parents are raising a generation of weak people who cannot cope with real-life situations. Overconfidence is a huge part of this. Parents, I think, are at the root of the problem, because they often help their children too much and refrain from actual discipline and criticism. Thus, when kids grow up and are faced with the "real world," they are sometimes doomed to fail -- they think they're great at everything, because that's what they've always been told, but when they actually set out to complete tasks, they fall short. The fact that the article points out -- that our levels of confidence do not match up with our levels of ability -- makes perfect sense when all of this is considered.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I do think that having at least a degree of confidence is important (but maybe that's because I'm American! I'm trying to look at this objectively, but I could just be rationalizing my own personality and actions). I actually found what the article said about Asian children having low levels of confidence but high levels of ability somewhat disturbing. It seems to me that low levels of confidence would correlate with low levels of self-esteem, which are generally negative for a person's well-being and especially unnecessary when those feelings stem from a false sense-of-self. Really, confidence should be in line with ability, not any greater or less.
Regarding the pervasiveness of the overconfidence message in American media, I agree -- it's definitely everywhere. I can definitely see where songs can go wrong. My mind is flooding right now with lyrics that tell us no one else matters: we are the greatest. These types of songs definitely cause and are caused by a culture of overconfidence and often foster a false sense of greatness. But there are definitely times -- like with Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" -- when this message can be helpful and powerful. In America, because of the already strong role of the media (whether good or bad) it's important for oft oppressed groups to have media "spokespeople."
Again, though, it's sometimes nice for everyone to get to feel important, to feel like he/she is the best -- but when every person in America fancies feeling extraordinary when (like we talked about in the Intelligence unit) most of us are actually ordinary, I guess that's how we wind up where we are today: lots of talk, but not so many results.
I agree with Alyssa; I definitely think that this article over generalized the American public and the whole idea of modesty, or lack thereof(obviously). I mean of course there are those people who think their capabilities surpass that of all other life, when in reality..not so much.
ReplyDeleteI actually thought it was really interesting, though, that the article brought up the fact that parents never seem to allow their children to fail anymore. It sounds perfect, why would we object? But actually, this only winds up hurting the kids down the line. I remember when I was in
middle school (so this is 5th-8th grade in my town) parents were still doing their children's projects to ensure a passing grade. I always used to get so upset because my parents wouldn't do my projects. Now, of course they would help me if I needed some kind of assistance with something, but they never did my project or homework for me. It was frustrating. Looking
back though, I'm glad they didn't because I earned my own grades and am better off for it now; I know what I'm actually capable of and know where the expectations fall.
This whole idea of never failing I think can also be a factor that leads to some of the psychological disorders we were starting to talk about in class today. When a person is constantly being praised by his or her
surrounding world, he or she has no concept of what failure actually is or means. Once that person goes out into the real world, where there are problems and people who will contradict him or her, he or she is unaware of how to actually handle and cope with those everyday "failures". These little defeats can really beat someone down, especially if he or she is not used to hearing such criticisms. I think the whole idea of learned helplessness plays into this idea of self-esteem. When a person has been constantly lifted up by the people in his or her bubble and he or she is thrown into a world that works very much the opposite of that, that person isn't really sure how to handle it and it can be overwheling.
Depression, I think can be a big part of this "over-confidence". When a person lives in that false reality it is hard to break from what they have been taught--that they are awesome. And granted, they could be a super cool person, but nobody is perfect. Honestly, I think it's a good thing when we receive criticisms (constructive, of course) every once and a while. Knowing that you don't always have to be perfect or accept
perfection as the end all can be comforting; I think if more people believed that constant encouragement is not necessarily a great thing all the time, disorders, like depression, could be avoided for some individuals who, once are thrown into the real world, are constantly
looking for that acceptance and praise of perfection, that may not come as readily as before.
As stated in the article, American self-confidence has grown over the last few decades. People are getting full of themselves. American independence may have gotten into people's heads and it makes people think that they're "too good" for other people. I believe that recent parenting styles do take a part of this. Children are taught to work hard and get the best grades. They are taught that they are "perfect" and that they are the better than everyone in school, sports, music, etc. Children are never taught that they might fail or not do well. Children will grow up to continue to believe that they are perfect and the best in everything. They believe that everything will be handed to them on a silver platter. Over the summer I'm a camp counselor and I see children who believe they're the best at everything and when someone or something proves them to not be, they get upset and cry and scream. I don't understand how parents teach their children like this, instead of preparing them for the real world like they should.
ReplyDeleteWhen someone is put down and shown that they're not "perfect", their self-esteem drops. This can cause many problems in their future and it's all because parents don't parent right… They need to prepare their children for the real world.