Where does self-confidence come from? An experiment that involved pilots and watching videos

Have you noticed that some people are incredibly (and sometimes even ridiculously) self-confident?

At times, the belief in one's superiority can play into one's hands, for example, during a job interview, when the employer wants to see a dedicated and motivated candidate sitting in front of them. Unfortunately, however, self-confidence is often riddled with negative consequences due to overestimating one's actual abilities.

Researchers from Canada and New Zealand suggest that self-confidence may be due to the misleading outer appearance of a particular job, which leads us to believe that the job is also easy in practice. To confirm or refute this hypothesis, scientists chose 780 volunteers. They asked them if they could land a plane during an emergency? Meanwhile, none of the volunteers had any genuine experience of flying. Before answering the question, half of the volunteers watched a video of professional pilots landing a plane. This video did not include instructions or display dashboard data - only the pilot's movements.

Consequently, those who watched the video were 30% more confident they could fly an aircraft independently than those who did not see the video. The survey also demonstrated that this increased self-confidence was certainly due to watching the recent video. Participants said it helped them believe in themselves.

Meanwhile, all the participants in the experiment agreed that landing an aircraft is an extremely complicated process that requires exceptional skills and preliminary training. Nevertheless, even those who did not watch the video had 29% confidence in their success.

There was also a difference regarding gender: men tended to overestimate their abilities, scoring on average twelve more confidence points than women.

Therefore, the researchers concluded that professional videos enhance the self-esteem of non-professionals. Whether it is more beneficial or harmful depends on the situation and the individual.