Narcissist Delusions Fatal to our Personal and Professional Success
“Indeed, he [Ziegler] regarded himself, just as every person tends to do, as a unique individual, while he was really typical. He believed that his life and destiny were at the center of the world’s attention, just as everyone does. He had very few doubts, and when facts contradicted his views on life, he shut his eyes in disapproval.”
– Hesse, Hermann, A Man by the Name of Ziegler. Translated by Jack Zipes
In the fairy tale, “A Man by the Name of Ziegler,” Hesse, narrating the life of a common man, simply but very eloquently elucidates a human frailty, overconfidence, which is pervasive and deeply entrenched in our mentality. While confidence is a highly desirable trait, and vital for attaining success in business or in life, too much confidence, or overconfidence, has proven to be fatal. At the very least, overconfidence can make our lives inauthentic, bereft of any meaning, just like the life of Ziegler!
What is Overconfidence?
Stated simply, overconfidence is excessive confidence. This “simple” explanation, however, is actually quite deceptive as it makes us believe that because we have an abundance of confidence, we are blessed. And consequently, we are superior to everyone else! This thinking is what makes overconfidence pernicious. Probably, to no other human attribute does the adage ‘too much of a good thing can be destructive’, applies more precisely.
Psychologists studying human behavior consider overconfidence to be an outcome of our inherent biases, predominantly our “self-serving” and “egotistical” biases. These biases cause people to evaluate information in a way that serves their self-interest, with complete disregard for how the information might impact others. Other biases breeding overconfidence include the “confirmation bias” and the “recency bias.” Confirmation bias leads us to believe or remember information that corroborates what we already know, reinforcing our previous opinions rather than encouraging us to analyze new information critically to arrive at a logical conclusion. Recency bias is the phenomenon which makes us remember something that has happened recently and believing that what happened before will happen again. “Narcissist” tendencies, an imprudent and highly exaggerated admiration of our physical and mental attributes, also contribute to overconfidence.
I am of the opinion that a combination of some or all of these biases develop into a delusion. Though a bias may seem similar to a delusion, they are not the same. A bias can be present with complete awareness, whereas a delusion is a false belief which we consider true and which makes us impervious to any logical reasoning. Based on these considerations, I think overconfidence is aptly described as a “narcissist delusion.”
The Perils of Overconfidence
Human personalities are replete with imperfections and they are far acute than we realize. Overconfidence is probably the most pervasive of all our imperfections. While imperfections alone may not be pernicious, our abiding belief that what we know, we know perfectly is what makes overconfidence fatal. We also believe, to our detriment, that we know everything about everything. Psychologists studying human behavior are of the opinion that overconfidence causes us to act and behave in ways the outcomes of which range from costly to catastrophic. Intoxicated by overconfidence, people blithely believe their abilities and their competencies to be significantly above average, or better than most people. So overconfident can we be in our beliefs and judgments that we consider any conclusions we reach to be the correct one even if there are ample evidences proving otherwise.
Prof. Mark Leary of Duke University has done pioneering research in the field of social and personality psychology. While not speaking of overconfidence explicitly, but on self-reflection, Prof. Leary says that despite its obvious advantages, our ability to be self-reflective comes at a high price. Few people realize how profoundly their lives are affected by self-reflection or how frequently inner chatter interferes with their success, pollutes their relationships with others, and undermines their happiness. The inherently egocentric and egotistical manner in which we process information blinds us to our shortcomings and undermines our relationships with others.
Based on extensive research, Prof. Leary has observed the following:
- Perhaps the biggest bias in people’s perceptions of themselves involves their penchant for overestimating their own positive qualities;
- Among other things, the capacity for self-reflection distorts people’s perceptions of the world, leading them to draw inaccurate conclusions about themselves and other people, and prompting them to make bad decisions based on faulty information;
- People tend to judge themselves as better than the average person on virtually every dimension that one can imagine;
- We each tend to think that our view of the world is the correct one and that other reasonable, fair-minded people will (or at least should) see things the same way we do.
- When other people disagree with us, we naturally assume that they are deluded, ignorant, or biased;
- Once formed, people’s self-concepts strongly influence their behavior.
Delusions resulting from self-reflection even extend to our mental attributes when we compare ourselves to other people in terms of kindness, fairness, and impartiality. For example, we conclusively believe that we are fairer, kinder, more compassionate, and less biased than to whomever we are comparing ourselves to. The most damaging aspects of these delusions are that we rarely see through them because we truly believe that we are better than most others in most respects. But few realize how fatal such erroneous judgments can be to us professionally and personally.
Impact of Overconfidence on our Personal and Professional Lives
The gratification that we derive from overconfidence, or our narcissist delusions, is usually ephemeral, quickly turning into suffering. Some of the ways overconfidence can be detrimental include the following:
- Inflated Opinions of Ourselves: We consider ourselves unique, unlike anyone else in the universe. Such an inflated view makes us arrogant and haughty;
- Impairs our Decisions: Overconfidence causes us to ignore realities because the realties contradict our opinions and make us feel worse. Overcome by feelings of inadequacy, we assert our position even though we know that the stance we are taking is faulty;
- Be Poor Team Members: Research shows that when we work as a group, we tend to give ourselves more credit when the group succeeds in a task and blame others when the group fails. Such an attitude, understandably, creates conflict with other team members, creating an atmosphere of mistrust;
- Deters us from Improving Ourselves: Our overconfidence, coupled with the belief that our perception of the world/situation/event is the correct one, deters us from improving ourselves. Convinced that we are right, we refuse to change ourselves, rather, we believe, it is others who need to change;
- Undertake Tasks Beyond Our Reach: Overestimating our abilities and skills and claiming to be expert at many things, we undertake tasks far beyond our capabilities, leading to failure;
- Tendency To Exploit Others: According to Dr. Leary, our narcissist tendencies causes us to believe we are superior to other people and thus, we have the right to take advantage of others;
- Deride Others: People tend to see other people’s biases much more clearly but are relatively blind to their own biases. This can cause people to disparage the ideas of others, creating conflicts and misunderstandings;
- Intolerance for Contradictory Opinions: We can be so adamant about our perspectives and our beliefs, that we not only ignore different perspectives but if we have the ability, we try to eliminate the spread of views contradictory to our own. To illustrate, Galileo, Anaxagoras, and several others have been executed, expelled, or otherwise condemned because the views they espoused sharply contradicted those of the establishment.
Benefits of Overconfidence
While overconfidence is, for the most part detrimental, it does have a few advantages and can be beneficial to us in certain circumstances:
- Strong Motivator: Overconfidence can help us stay motivated in the face of adversity and setbacks. Since we blame others, or the circumstances, or the environment for our failures, the belief that we are not responsible for the setback helps us stay motivated;
- Stay Positive: Judging oneself positively helps us feel good and reduces our anxiety because we believe that given our positive attributes, eventually we will succeed. This thinking helps us maintain positive feelings;
- We Try Harder: Because we feel that people do not recognize our qualities, or appreciate our skills, we strive harder to engage in productive activities and create a good impression on others.
Overcoming the Perils of Overconfidence
Overconfidence is a habit that develops insidiously. If we are to overcome its perils, we first have to become aware of it and acknowledge we are afflicted with it. Eliminating overconfidence, or even reducing it however slightly, will help us not only endure the difficult moments in life but find the happiness we seek. Here are some steps we can take to abate our overconfidence:
Develop an appreciation for views that diverge from our own and not believe that we know everything.
- Not be pretentious. Legend has it that the Oracle at Delphi adjudged Socrates to be the wisest of all men not because of his intellectual prowess but because he accepted his own ignorance and never pretended to know something he did not;
- Take an honest inventory of our skills and our shortcomings. Introspection may be helpful;
- Being rational rather than impulsive in our decisions and actions;
- Finally, I recommend a few minutes of meditation each day. Assuming that readers of this post are familiar with the therapeutic and mind-calming effects of meditation, no elaboration may be necessary. The benefits of meditation take long to manifest but with regular practice, our perception does become holistic.
Eliminating, or even reducing overconfidence is not going to be easy. Dr. Daniel Kahneman captures this fallibility of human beings very precisely when he says, “our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.” [Kahneman, Daniel, Thinking, Fast and Slow]
Extermination of overconfidence may be difficult but with the strength of our convictions, we can achieve it. We need to take control of our overconfidence and not let it dominate us. We can achieve success and find happiness only if we get the Ziegler out of us!
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I write to enhance my own learning. The best way to increase one’s learning, I feel, is by sharing what we know with others. The desire to write also motivates me to read voraciously. It also motivates me to research topics I know little about and seek out experiences in settings both traditional as well as radical. But I learn best from the comments I receive from readers. These comments, being addressed specifically to my thinking, help me refine my thought process.
I also write fearlessly. I like to express my mind without being restrained by social, political, religious, or professional norms that seem inane to me. That does not mean I ignore propriety. If I believe the expressions of my thoughts could be rude or disruptive or effrontery, I may abstain from expressing myself.