Social psychology

This Unmistakable Trait Signals Higher Social Class

Social class shapes how capable people think they are — and how others see them.

Overconfidence is a classic signal of higher social class.

People from a higher social class assume they will perform better on cognitive tests, even though they fail to outperform those of a lower social class.

Overconfidence is probably passed down from one generation to the next and also helps people appear more competent.

People interpret this self-belief as reflecting someone’s actual abilities.

This is all despite the fact that people from lower classes do just as well on those tests.

Dr Peter Belmi, the study’s first author, said:

“Advantages beget advantages.

Those who are born in upper-class echelons are likely to remain in the upper class, and high-earning entrepreneurs disproportionately originate from highly educated, well-to-do families.

Our research suggests that social class shapes the attitudes that people hold about their abilities and that, in turn, has important implications for how class hierarchies perpetuate from one generation to the next.”

Measuring overconfidence

For the series of four studies people were given cognitive tests and then asked to estimate their score.

People of higher social class consistently gave themselves higher marks.

In fact, they had done no better than people of lower social class.

This display of overconfidence can be beneficial in job interviews, the research also showed.

When given a mock interview, people of higher social class acted in an overconfident way.

Judges watching the video, though, saw this as reflecting greater competence; in other words, their self-belief impressed others.

Dr Belmi explained:

“Individuals with relatively high social class were more overconfident, which in turn was associated with being perceived as more competent and ultimately more hirable, even though, on average, they were no better at the trivia test than their lower-class counterparts.”

Social roots

Overconfidence among people of a higher social class could be partly down to a difference in values, Dr Belmi said:

“In the middle class, people are socialized to differentiate themselves from others, to express what they think and feel and to confidently express their ideas and opinions, even when they lack accurate knowledge.

By contrast, working-class people are socialized to embrace the values of humility, authenticity and knowing your place in the hierarchy.

These findings challenge the widely held belief that everybody thinks they are better than the average.

Our results suggest that this type of thinking might be more prevalent among the middle and upper classes.”