Psychologists often note that most people think they are above average in intelligence. We sought robust, contemporary evidence for this “smarter than average” effect by asking Americans in two independent samples (total N = 2,821) whether they agreed with the statement, “I am more intelligent than the average person.” After weighting each sample to match the demographics of U.S. census data, we found that 65% of Americans believe they are smarter than average, with men more likely to agree than women. However, overconfident beliefs about one’s intelligence are not always unrealistic: more educated people were more likely to think their intelligence is above average. We suggest that a tendency to overrate one’s cognitive abilities may be a stable feature of human psychology.
Sorry for the late reply. It’s been sitting in my Lemmy notifications for a long time and I didn’t properly read it until now. Thanks for having take the time to explain how the total amount of people who incorrectly assess themselves regarding the mean/median can be broken down.
Also, the discussion regarding the validity of intelligence was interesting. After reading the Wikipedia entry, it’s clear to me that it’s a limited metric, if not a wholly invalid metric.