Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
Abstract
The Lake Wobegon Effect is a general tendency for people to overestimate their own abilities. In this study, the authors conducted a large, nationally-representative survey of U.S. citizens to test whether Americans overestimate their own gun-relevant personality traits, gun safety knowledge, and ability to use a gun in an emergency. The authors also tested how gun control attitudes, political identification, gender, and gun experience affect self-perceptions. Consistent with prior research on the Lake Wobegon Effect, participants overestimated their gun-related competencies. Conservatives, males, and pro-gun advocates self-enhanced somewhat more than their counterparts but this effect was primarily due to increased gun experience among these participants. These findings are important to policymakers in the area of gun use, because overconfidence in one’s gun-related abilities may lead to a reduced perceived need for gun training.
Department
Psychology
Publication Title
Journal of Social and Political Psychology
Recommended Citation
Stark, E., & Sachau, D. (2016). Lake Wobegon’s Guns: Overestimating Our Gun-Related Competences. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 4(1), 8-23.
DOI
10.5964/jspp.v4i1.464
Link to Publisher Version (DOI)
Publisher's Copyright and Source
Reprinted with authors' permission from Journal of Social and Political Psychology, volume 4, issue 1, 2016, pages 8-12. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i1.464.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
