Standing up straight, speaking without a stutter, and
maintaining eye contact with a person are all elements which depict a person's
confidence levels. It is overtly renown that people who lack confidence in
their daily endeavours, experience difficulty in achieving their everyday tasks.
The question we explore today is whether overconfidence is actually better than
no confidence at all. After all, overconfidence can sometimes be perceived as
arrogance and can lead to having the opposite effects on a person.
In a recent study at the University of Queensland, researchers
sought to explore the answer to this unique conundrum. The research was done through
a series of five different studies. In one of the studies, subjects
were asked to imagine that they were participating in a singles mixer.
Unfortunately, the subject had arrived late at the mixer and now he had to choose
between three open seats (Figure below).
On the table on the right, there was a woman which the
subject had previously expressed the most interest. She was seated next to one
of the subject's friends and across a competitor which the
subject had previously rated as overconfident and arrogant. On the table on the
left, there were two women, which the subject had rated as less attractive,
but with no competitors in site.
Consistent with the initial hypothesis of the study,
overconfident individuals benefit in mate competition because of their
displayed confidence and arrogance. Given this trait, people were less willing
to compete with them.
In the final conclusion of the research, it was found that overconfident
self-beliefs can indeed create a net advantage that increases mating success in
competitive environments, despite the costs associated with overconfidence (by
costs we refer to the way society perceives arrogance). Their work suggest that
overconfidence might not only induce people to place riskier bets, but might
actually help them win.
Now with regard to life, we believe that the concept is very
similar to the results in this study. It is actually more beneficial to be
overconfident, rather than not having any confidence at all. Our advice is that you exude confidence, even
if you are faking it and you will soon begin to reap the benefits of such a deviant approach.
