Lake Wobegon’s Guns: Overestimating Our Gun-Related Competences
The Lake Wobegon Effect is a general tendency for people to overestimate their own abilities. In this study, the authors conducted a large, nationally-representative survey of U.S. citizens to test whether Americans overestimate their own gun-relevant personality traits, gun safety knowledge, and ab...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology
2016-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Social and Political Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/464 |
| _version_ | 1828079721417539584 |
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| author | Emily Stark Daniel Sachau |
| author_facet | Emily Stark Daniel Sachau |
| author_sort | Emily Stark |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Lake Wobegon Effect is a general tendency for people to overestimate their own abilities. In this study, the authors conducted a large, nationally-representative survey of U.S. citizens to test whether Americans overestimate their own gun-relevant personality traits, gun safety knowledge, and ability to use a gun in an emergency. The authors also tested how gun control attitudes, political identification, gender, and gun experience affect self-perceptions. Consistent with prior research on the Lake Wobegon Effect, participants overestimated their gun-related competencies. Conservatives, males, and pro-gun advocates self-enhanced somewhat more than their counterparts but this effect was primarily due to increased gun experience among these participants. These findings are important to policymakers in the area of gun use, because overconfidence in one’s gun-related abilities may lead to a reduced perceived need for gun training. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:06:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e5526b19c12b4998a5632b993bd64db3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2195-3325 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:06:40Z |
| publishDate | 2016-02-01 |
| publisher | PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Social and Political Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-e5526b19c12b4998a5632b993bd64db32023-01-02T13:08:53ZengPsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for PsychologyJournal of Social and Political Psychology2195-33252016-02-014182310.5964/jspp.v4i1.464jspp.v4i1.464Lake Wobegon’s Guns: Overestimating Our Gun-Related CompetencesEmily Stark0Daniel Sachau1Department of Psychology, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Mankato, MN, USADepartment of Psychology, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Mankato, MN, USAThe Lake Wobegon Effect is a general tendency for people to overestimate their own abilities. In this study, the authors conducted a large, nationally-representative survey of U.S. citizens to test whether Americans overestimate their own gun-relevant personality traits, gun safety knowledge, and ability to use a gun in an emergency. The authors also tested how gun control attitudes, political identification, gender, and gun experience affect self-perceptions. Consistent with prior research on the Lake Wobegon Effect, participants overestimated their gun-related competencies. Conservatives, males, and pro-gun advocates self-enhanced somewhat more than their counterparts but this effect was primarily due to increased gun experience among these participants. These findings are important to policymakers in the area of gun use, because overconfidence in one’s gun-related abilities may lead to a reduced perceived need for gun training.http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/464self-enhancement biasoverconfidencepolitical ideologyillusory superioritygun attitudes |
| spellingShingle | Emily Stark Daniel Sachau Lake Wobegon’s Guns: Overestimating Our Gun-Related Competences Journal of Social and Political Psychology self-enhancement bias overconfidence political ideology illusory superiority gun attitudes |
| title | Lake Wobegon’s Guns: Overestimating Our Gun-Related Competences |
| title_full | Lake Wobegon’s Guns: Overestimating Our Gun-Related Competences |
| title_fullStr | Lake Wobegon’s Guns: Overestimating Our Gun-Related Competences |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lake Wobegon’s Guns: Overestimating Our Gun-Related Competences |
| title_short | Lake Wobegon’s Guns: Overestimating Our Gun-Related Competences |
| title_sort | lake wobegon s guns overestimating our gun related competences |
| topic | self-enhancement bias overconfidence political ideology illusory superiority gun attitudes |
| url | http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/464 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT emilystark lakewobegonsgunsoverestimatingourgunrelatedcompetences AT danielsachau lakewobegonsgunsoverestimatingourgunrelatedcompetences |