RESEARCH_FILE
David Dunning
University of Michigan
Known for:Co-author of the Dunning-Kruger effect study, showing that low performers systematically overestimate their competence while high performers underestimate theirs — a finding with direct implications for understanding why skilled engineers feel like impostors
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“The diff stats feel like a scoreboard I'm already losing”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“The plus-minus count measures lines moved, not how this review is going to go.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Open a pull request you merged months ago with a diff stat you remember dreading, and count how many comments mentioned size versus what the code actually did.
Key findings
- 1999
With Justin Kruger, Dunning demonstrated that incompetent individuals suffer a dual burden: they reach incorrect conclusions and make poor choices, but they also lack the metacognitive skills to recognize their own incompetence — while highly competent individuals underestimate their relative performance. Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments ↗