
People in higher social class have an exaggerated belief that they are better - whack
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-05/apa-pih051519.php
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ve55
From the actual paper:

>Furthermore, all three forms of social class were positively associated with
actual rank, indicating that those with relatively high social class did
objectively better on the flashcard game relative to their lower-class
counterparts

Looking at the table of correlations on page 7 in some cases shows the exact
opposite of what the article constantly hints at: that performance was in no
way correlated with social/financial class. Glad to see quality reporting as
usual. (Edit: Yes, the general effect still exists, just look at the paper.
It's still bad reporting)

If you're interested in learning, ignore articles like this and glance over
the actual papers instead: [https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-
pspi0000187.p...](https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-
pspi0000187.pdf)

~~~
Phemist
The paper itself concludes that

> Furthermore, all three forms of social class were positively associated with
> actual rank, indicating that those with relatively high social class did
> objectively better on the flashcard game relative to their lower-class
> counterparts (rs range = .04 to .20, all ps < .001).

in line with the article.

The paper reported on statistical or percentile rank. Are you perhaps
confusing it for colloquial "ranking"?

~~~
ve55
I view the above article as trying to convey to readers that there was no
positive correlation between social class and actual rank, when in fact there
was, which they attempt to mislead readers about to the greatest extent that
they can without outright lying.

~~~
thfuran
>I view the above article as trying to convey to readers that there was no
positive correlation between social class and actual rank

Well, I think it is clear from the title alone that it is not making that
argument.

~~~
ve55
Strongly disagree.

The title and article constantly refer to higher self-expectations as "an
exaggerated belief that they are better than others", with the first sentence
of the page stating "Overconfidence can be misinterpreted by others as greater
competence, perpetuating social hierarchies, study says".

The authors take every chance they can to attempt to convince the reader that
there is no actual positive correlation: "Those from a higher social class
thought that they did better than others; however, when the researchers
examined actual performance, it was not the case", "these inequalities will
continue to perpetuate if people do not correct for their natural human
tendency to conflate impressions of confidence with evidence of ability."

After unfortunately having read the article for a second time, its dishonesty
is only saddening. There is actual science being done and yet it is reported
on so inaccurately that it does a net-harm to peoples' beliefs (not to imply
that this isn't the standard).

~~~
thfuran
Were the word "exagerrated" omitted from the title, I'd agree with you. But
its presence suggests that the relation exists but is overestimated by people
in higher social class.

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bigred100
One unfortunate aspect of this is that many upper class/upper middle class
people I’ve met can become insane with rage if you point out that their self-
assessment is wrong. Eg a mediocre student with successful academic parents
may dismiss something as trivial, and when you ask him if he can prove the
thing he just said is trivial, he’ll start throwing his arms in the air and
yelling and stomp out of the room (personally seen more than once).

~~~
theoh
This is probably narcissistic rage, and it would be a result of the
narcissistic injury of being less intelligent than the parents. There are lots
of other potential causes of narcissistic injury, but realizing that one is
relatively stupid can do it for people of any class background.

~~~
bigred100
The guy in question isn’t even stupid, average to above average for a
difficult research lab in a decent PhD program, which means smart, but through
some bizarre mental problems tries to convince himself and others that award
winning work by internationally recognized people 20+years into their field is
trivial, sort of slacks off and spins his wheels chasing low hanging fruit,
and gets mad if you say this

~~~
theoh
Pretty sure these "bizarre mental problems" are a manifestation of rivalrous
narcissism. Dismissing others in order to feel better about your own
intelligence is a symptom of that. It sounds like he would like to be a heavy
intellectual hitter but isn't, which is all I meant by _relatively_ stupid.

Narcissism involves a kind of fraudulent, artificial self-image. Claiming
something is trivial and then not being able to follow through on that is
exactly the kind of bluster I'd expect from a narcissist. The slacking off
fits the profile, and the "gets mad" is also a narcissistic trait.

To return to my original point: this is not about class origins, it sound's
like it is about having a chip on one's shoulder about intellectual
achievement. There are many other things that can play that role in
narcissism, including coming from an underprivileged background.

It's really important to develop a proper analysis of these personality
problems. The typical engineer has a blind spot in this area—they can see when
there's an obvious problem but they don't try to build up a deeper intuition
for the dynamics behind it.

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dev_dull
This is such a silly study. What exactly were they trying to prove? Water ==
wet?

Wealth is power, power gets to your head.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
Don't you think that the people the study is about would say the opposite?
Would insist that their social status is deserved because of their superior
ability? Studies like this give us factual ammunition against those people.

Besides, it's not a bad idea to study things that seem obvious. Sometimes you
get surprising results.

~~~
dev_dull
If they deceived themselves I would expect them to say that. If they are not
deceived then I expect them to say something different.

------
randyrand
Would the same be true for smart people? or attractive people?

probably.

