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LetterLETTER

Underestimation in Self-Assessment

Sehrish Panjwani
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education June 2019, 83 (5) 7353; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe7353
Sehrish Panjwani
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center St. Margaret, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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To the Editor: Thank you to Dr. Karpen for the review article “The Social Psychology of Biased Self-Assessment.”1 It brought to light many aspects of the biases in self-evaluation that educators should consider, including self-serving bias, biased hypothesis testing, and biased recall. Although the author did an exceptional job of outlining the importance of acknowledging and counteracting the types of biases, there are other circumstances to consider in self-assessments.

While the biases mentioned in this article led to an inflation in self-assessments, there are other populations that do not enhance self-evaluations. The author briefly discussed that those who are diagnosed with clinical depression appear to assess themselves accurately, which is contrary to what one might expect from this population.2-4 However, populations that underestimate their self-assessments were not included. Modesty bias, the opposite of self-serving bias, is when individuals attribute failure to internal factors and success to situational factors. Modesty bias arises when individuals minimize their abilities in an effort to not draw attention to themselves and prevent others from feeling inferior.5 For example, many immigrants from Asian countries can have a more collectivist attitude, giving emphasis to a group over the individuals in it, which favors modesty bias over self-serving bias.6,7 These individuals will often also avoid the positive end of a Likert-type scale to remain modest about their competencies.8

Additionally, imposter syndrome, when learners are unable to internalize their successes, can lead to self-doubt and lower assessments of individual abilities.9 While there is little research on how imposter syndrome can affect self-assessments, students in higher education are at an increased risk of having imposter-like feelings, making this a possible bias to consider.10 It is important to recognize that studies have shown that females are more likely to experience imposter syndrome compared to males.11 This is of particular interest to the pharmacy community, since, according to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), 62.5% of the 63,087 pharmacy students enrolled in Fall 2017 were females.12 Additionally, another subset of the population that is considered to be at high risk for imposter syndrome is Asian Americans, who, in Fall 2017, made up the second most common ethnicity among enrolled pharmacy students, according to AACP, at approximately 25% of enrollees.12,13 Of the 15,970 Asian Americans enrolled in a Doctor of Pharmacy program in the United States in 2017, approximately 63% of them were females.12 With large proportions of pharmacy students being part of these two demographic groups, this is a bias that educators will encounter frequently and should be prepared to counteract.

An individual’s impression of his or her abilities has a considerable impact on how they approach patient care. It is vital for educators to assess where on the spectrum of bias a learner falls: inflating, accurately assessing, or deflating. To develop effective practitioners, educators need to be cognizant of the many biases involved in self-assessments and adapt to them accordingly.

  • © 2019 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy

REFERENCES

  1. 1.↵
    1. Karpen SC
    . The social psychology of biased self-assessment. Am J Pharm Educ. 2018;82(5):Article 6299. https://www.ajpe.org/doi/10.5688/ajpe6299. Accessed August 1, 2018.
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    1. Taylor SE,
    2. Brown JD
    . Illusions and well-being: a social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychol Bull. 1988;103(2):193-210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.103.2.193. Accessed August 1, 2018.
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    . A conceptual and empirical review of the depressive realism hypothesis. Can J Behav Sci. 1989;21(4):419-433. doi:doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00368. Accessed August 1, 2018.
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    1. Min I,
    2. Cortina KS,
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    . Modesty bias and the attitude-achievement paradox across nations: a reanalysis of TIMSS. Learn Individ Differ. 2016;51:359-366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.09.008. Accessed December 23, 2018.
    OpenUrl
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    1. Miller JG
    . Culture and the development of everyday social explanation. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1984;46(5):961-978.
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    1. Lee YT,
    2. Seligman MEP
    . Are Americans more optimistic than the Chinese? Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 1997;23(1):32-40.
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  8. 8.↵
    1. Chen C,
    2. Lee S,
    3. Stevenson HW
    . Response style and cross-cultural comparisons of rating scales among East Asian and North American students. Psychol Sci. 1995;6(3):170-175. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1995.tb00327.x. Accessed December 23, 2018.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  9. 9.↵
    1. Sakulku J,
    2. Alexander J
    . The impostor phenomenon. Int J Behav Sci. 2011;6(1):73-92. doi:doi:10.14456/IJBS.2011.6. Accessed August 1, 2018.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  10. 10.↵
    1. Parkman A
    . The imposter phenomenon in higher education: incidence and impact. J High Educ Theory Pract. 2016;16(1978):51-61. doi:doi:10.1002/nha3.20098. Accessed August 1, 2018.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  11. 11.↵
    1. Clance PR,
    2. Imes SA
    . The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy (Chic). 1978;15(3):241-247.
    OpenUrl
  12. 12.↵
    American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Profile of Pharmacy Students Fall 2017. Arlington: American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy; 2018;124-125. https://www.aacp.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/fall-2017-profile%20of%20pharmacy%20students-enrollments.pdf. Accessed September 3, 2018.
  13. 13.↵
    1. Cokley K,
    2. McClain S,
    3. Enciso A,
    4. Martinez M
    . An examination of the impact of minority status stress and impostor feelings on the mental health of diverse ethnic minority college students. J Multicult Couns Devel. 2013;41(2):82-95. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2013.00029.x. Accessed August 3, 2018.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
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Underestimation in Self-Assessment
Sehrish Panjwani
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education Jun 2019, 83 (5) 7353; DOI: 10.5688/ajpe7353

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Underestimation in Self-Assessment
Sehrish Panjwani
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education Jun 2019, 83 (5) 7353; DOI: 10.5688/ajpe7353
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