Having the insight and honesty to say that you are ignorant or inexperienced on a topic It is more common among intelligent people.
A recent study published in The Journal of Positive Psychology supports this popular idea: that it is precisely ignorance (ignorance about one's own ignorance) that makes us be bold when speaking about any topic.
Dunning-Kruger
A team led by Elizabeth Krumrei-Mancuso has shown that intellectual humility correlates with superior general knowledge. This is a logical outcome because, as the researchers write, 'simply put, learning requires the humility to realize that one has something to learn.'
Krumrei-Mancuso and her colleagues conducted five studies in total, attempting to discover more about the links between intellectual humility and knowledge acquisition; between intellectual humility and metaknowledge (perception of one's own knowledge); and finally, between intellectual humility and other styles of thinking.
Some studies included a shorter questionnaire that assessed being a 'know-it-all' (by agreeing or disagreeing with statements such as 'I know almost everything there is to know') and intellectual openness (by agreeing or disagreeing with statements such as 'I can learn from other people '); while other studies used a more complete 22-item measure and recently developed that incorporates questions about cognitions, emotions, and behaviors representative of intellectual humility (such as accepting criticism of one's own important beliefs; being ready to change one's mind; and respect for others' points of view).
This use of different measures allows for a more complete and varied assessment of intellectual humility, but it also prevents comparison between studies.
In terms of knowledge, those higher on intellectual humility were less likely to claim knowledge they did not have (the researchers tested this by assessing participants' willingness to claim familiarity with completely fictitious facts that they could not possibly know), and they also tended to Underestimate your performance on a test of cognitive ability.
Other thinking styles and constructs that correlated with greater intellectual humility included being more inclined toward reflective thinking, having more 'need for cognition' (enjoying hard thinking and problem solving), greater curiosity, and open thinking. More intellectual humility was also associated with seeing less of other people's beliefs as inferior to one's own..
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The news
Intellectual humility and saying "I don't know" is more common among intelligent people
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.