When I posted a podcast episode on imposter syndrome on social media, a follower brought up a good question. What’s the name for the opposite behavior of imposter syndrome—when someone thinks they know more than they actually do? There is really a name for it. It’s called the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect is a cognitive bias named for two authors of a journal article describing how people overestimate their competence or cognitive abilities and don’t realize these errors. The issue isn’t just that people make poor choices from erroneous conclusions —it’s also that they are unable to recognize those errors.