Wealthy, Male American Students Are More Likely to BS, Study Says

Students who are wealthier and male are more likely than others to claim that they know more than they actually do, says a new study. The study, which reviewed surveys of 40,000 15-year-old students from across nine English-speaking countries, found that boys and people from wealthier families are more likely to be “bullshitters,” which it defines as “individuals who claim knowledge or expertise in an area where they actually have little experience at all.” The study, which was published by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, looked at survey data attached to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an assessment which compares students’ academic abilities across countries. The survey asked students how well they understood 16 mathematical concepts, but there was a catch: three of the concepts were made up. Across all of the nine English-speaking countries, boys and more economically-advantaged students were more likely to exaggerate their knowledge, Nikki Shure, one of the study’s authors and an assistant professor of economics in the Department of Social Science at University College London, tells TIME. “You’re claiming expertise in things you have absolutely no knowledge of,” says Shure. “You couldn’t. These things don’t exist.” The countries where students were guilty of the most BS? The U.S. and Canada. Students in the two counties had scores that were .25 and .3 above aver...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized onetime psychology Source Type: news