BackHow to detect a bullshitter around you
Young men bullshit more than young women and the rich bullshit more than the poor, suggests a new study
PremiumMumbai: We all know a “bullshitter"—someone who claims knowledge or expertise in an area where they actually have little experience or skill. But who are they, where do they come from and do they make for better workers? A new study by John Jerrim and others try to answer these important questions.
Analysing data from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of over 40,000 15-year-olds from nine Anglophone countries, the authors investigated the characteristics of youngsters who claimed to have knowledge and expertise in three mathematics concepts which do not exist.
As part of the assessment, students were asked to indicate their familiarity with 16 mathematics concepts on a five-point scale (ranging from “never heard of it" to “know it well, understand the concept"). These 16 constructs included fake terms like “proper number", “subjunctive scaling" and “declarative fraction".
The authors then used participants’ responses to these three fictional items to form a “bullshit" scale. Bullshitters would claim familiarity with the make-believe topics. The authors find that young men are more likely to bullshit than young women, and that bullshitting is somewhat more prevalent among those from more advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. Compared with other countries, 15-year-olds in North America are found to be bigger bullshitters than those in England, Australia and New Zealand.
The authors found strong evidence that bullshitters generally display overconfidence in their academic prowess and problem-solving skills, report higher levels of perseverance when faced with challenges, and provide more socially desirable responses than more truthful groups. However, the authors highlight that although bullshitting has negative connotations, being able to bullshit convincingly may be useful in certain situations such as job interviews, negotiations and grant applications.
Also Read: Bullshitters. Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives?
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