from this issue has what is referred to as a “double burden,” which means they are continuously making mistakes in the same area. It is difficult for people to correct them because they are completely ignorant of their deficiencies. Instead of trying to improve their skills, they will continue moving in that direction because they truly believe in their abilities and will argue that their failure is because of bad luck. Psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger from Cormell University discovered that this phenomenon becomes apparent when people are tested on their humor, logic, and grammatical knowledge. They found that those who scored the lowest in these categories were less likely to believe they had a problem in these areas because they suffer from non-existent or weak metacomprehension, metamemory, and metacognition. They are incapable of evaluating their own thinking processes or providing constructive criticism of their own abilities. Prior to this study, it had already been established that people have the tendency to think of themselves more highly than their abilities warrant in areas such as written expression and leadership skills. The Dunning-Kruger Effect simply emphasizes this common human tendency. However, it can also have a negative impact in certain environments. One example is senior managers who are clearly incompetent yet still manage to get promoted. If you haven’t already noticed, incompetent people are typically oblivious to their incompetence. They literally walk around with their head in the clouds believing they are the cleverest people in the world. On the other hand, those with a high skill set are usually very modest about their capabilities. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-DISCIPLINE AND THE DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT So, what is the relationship between self-discipline and the Dunning-Kruger Effect? Self-discipline and self-control are skills, which means it’s possible to overestimate your ability in these areas. If you ever get to the point where you believe you have mastered the art of being highly productive at all times and have the ability to resist temptation, be careful! It could be true—maybe you have come a long way—but there could be the possibility that you’ve still got a lot more work to do. Research suggests that the more familiar you become with something, whether it’s a skill or a subject, the likelihood that you will claim you are are an expert diminishes. In other words, the deeper you get into something, the more you realize how much more there is to learn about it.