The Average Person is Above Average
There have been numerous studies on how “social norming” affects our behaviors. Often, when we see how other people are performing, we begin to compare ourselves to the norm and start to adjust accordingly. Our social standing among our peers turns out to be a strong motivator for us regardless of whether we think others recognize our standings or not.
Interestingly, when researchers study how people perceive themselves relative to others, the majority consider themselves to be “above average” at almost anything you ask them about. This of course, is statistically impossible.
In a survey of faculty at the University of Nebraska, 68% of the faculties rated themselves in the top 25% percentile for their teaching abilities.141 Similarly, a survey done on Stanford MBA students showed that 87% of them believed their academic performances to be above the medium. 142 Even among high school students, a survey attached to the SAT...