<blockquote>
  <p>People base their perceptions of performance, in part, on their preconceived notions about their skills. Because these notions often do not correlate with objective performance, they can lead people to make judgments about their performance that have little to do with actual accomplishment. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>This is an example of the Dunnig-Kruger effect<sup>[1]</sup> Simply stated, it is the cognitive bias that people who are ignorant of a subject/field overestimate their competence in that subject/field. <em>People tend to be unaware of their incompetence.</em> </p>

<p>Though this is an interesting phenomenon, it is not as specific to acheivement impairing one's ability to gauge competence as is <em>Déformation professionnelle.</em></p>

<p><sub>[1] Why People Fail to Recognize Their Own Incompetence, Dunnig et. al., Current Directions in Psychological Science, 82 (2002)</sub></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-17T06:57:51.853Z
2014-06-17T06:57:51.853Z
anongoodnurse
<p>I think the most common verbage would be</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Poseur</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Though often used in subcultural contexts, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poseur#Etymology_and_definitions" rel="nofollow">'posuer / poser' means someone who affects an attitude or position</a> — which is very much the case when someone comes in from an external field and acts with the authority of a resident expert.</p>

<hr>

<p>Still, I stand by my position that this question is best served at the English Language site, since the community there will provide amore-rich breadth of answers for consideration.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-17T18:14:16.487Z
You may have missed the specification that the term in question should be "in psychology". Poseur is nonscientific, as would most answers be at EL&U. Then again, I should admit I'm unaware of any empirical research focusing on Maslow's hammer, but at least Maslow was a psychologist (and proposed a lot of useful psychological theory without empirical research, as was more normative in his time).
Nick Stauner
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2014-06-17T20:04:40.310Z
sure. fair point
New Alexandria
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2023-11-16T16:53:50.407Z
A _poseur_ may also be *consciously* engaging in behavior meant to give the appearance of competence. _Déformation professionelle_ (exceeding one's professional competence) is more of an unconscious bias that professionals are in some manner often trained to guard against. In the case of medicine the training is in the form of obligatory seminars offered by your malpractice insurance provider.
G. Cito
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-17T12:05:52.207Z
2014-06-17T12:05:52.207Z
New Alexandria
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9formation_professionnelle"><em>Déformation professionnelle</em></a> is probably the closest match:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong><em>Déformation professionnelle</em></strong> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language">French</a> phrase, meaning a tendency to look at things from the point of view of one's own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profession">profession</a> rather than from a broader perspective. It is often translated as "professional deformation" or "job conditioning". The implication is that professional training, and its related socialization, often result in a distortion of the way one views the world.<sup>[<a href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de/karriere/deformation-professionnelle-beruflich-bedingte-missbildung-1.786888">1</a>]</sup></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Followed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument">the law of the instrument / Maslow's hammer</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The concept known as <strong>the law of the instrument, Maslow's hammer, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavel">Gavel</a> or a golden hammer</strong><sup>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument#cite_note-1">a</a>]</sup> is an over-reliance on a familiar tool; as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow">Abraham Maslow</a> said in 1966, "I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail."<sup>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument#cite_note-maslow66-2">1</a>]</sup></p>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p><sup><strong>References</strong><br>
1 [déformation professionelle]. Bönisch, J. (2007, November 30). Déformation professionnelle: Beruflich bedingte Missbildung. <em>Süddeutsche Zeitung</em>. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de/karriere/deformation-professionnelle-beruflich-bedingte-missbildung-1.786888">http://www.sueddeutsche.de/karriere/deformation-professionnelle-beruflich-bedingte-missbildung-1.786888</a>.<br>
1 [law of the instrument]. Maslow, A. H. (1966/2004). <em>The psychology of science</em> (pp. 15). Maurice Bassett.</sup></p>

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2014-06-17T05:25:23.450Z
The Dunning–Kruger effect is also worth considering; what do you think?
anongoodnurse
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2014-06-17T05:55:33.797Z
Cool! Hadn't heard of it before. It suits an interestingly different interpretation of the question. If the overconfidence is a consequence of lack of skill, rather than a consequence of misapplication of other skills, then yes, I think [the Dunning–Kruger effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect) would be an even better answer.
Nick Stauner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-15T17:11:14.840Z
2014-06-15T17:11:14.840Z
Nick Stauner
<p>Person A has led a successful career and is very well renowned in field A.<br>
Later in life, person A moves to field B, a field they're curious about but have very little experience in.</p>

<p>Person A struggles to accept their limited understanding of their new domain, having been an expert in their own domain for so long, and imposes their (usually) incorrect views on a field B topic on others based on a confidence they've built from being good in field A.</p>

<p>Is there a term in psychology for this phenomenon?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-15T11:12:06.710Z
See also [Dawkins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins) </joke>
Eoin
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2014-06-17T12:01:43.873Z
Also a relevant question at our [EL&U](http://english.stackexchange.com/) site.
New Alexandria
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-27T10:19:12.530Z
There is a word for it but I can't find it either. It is 1 word and it is related to the Golden Hammer concept. I believe I saw Thomas Sowell use it in an article recently.
user19641
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-01-27T03:55:57.190Z
Related: [Name of cognitive bias that causes experts to overestimate their ability in other areas?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/25203/7001)
Arnon Weinberg
<cognitive-psychology><social-psychology><terminology><bias>
Is there a term for a person who moves from one field of expertise to a new field and has an inflated belief in their competence in the new field?
bodacious
# Is there a term for a person who moves from one field of expertise to a new field and has an inflated belief in their competence in the new field?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-06-15)

Person A has led a successful career and is very well renowned in field A.  
Later in life, person A moves to field B, a field they're curious about but have very little experience in.

Person A struggles to accept their limited understanding of their new domain, having been an expert in their own domain for so long, and imposes their (usually) incorrect views on a field B topic on others based on a confidence they've built from being good in field A.

Is there a term in psychology for this phenomenon?

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, social-psychology, terminology, bias

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: See also [Dawkins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins) </joke>  
> **username_2**: Also a relevant question at our [EL&U](http://english.stackexchange.com/) site.  
> **username_3**: There is a word for it but I can't find it either. It is 1 word and it is related to the Golden Hammer concept. I believe I saw Thomas Sowell use it in an article recently.  
> **username_4**: Related: [Name of cognitive bias that causes experts to overestimate their ability in other areas?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/25203/7001)  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2014-06-15. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

[*Déformation professionnelle*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9formation_professionnelle) is probably the closest match:

> ***Déformation professionnelle*** is a [French](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language) phrase, meaning a tendency to look at things from the point of view of one's own [profession](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profession) rather than from a broader perspective. It is often translated as "professional deformation" or "job conditioning". The implication is that professional training, and its related socialization, often result in a distortion of the way one views the world.[[1](http://www.sueddeutsche.de/karriere/deformation-professionnelle-beruflich-bedingte-missbildung-1.786888)]

Followed by [the law of the instrument / Maslow's hammer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument):

> The concept known as **the law of the instrument, Maslow's hammer, [Gavel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavel) or a golden hammer**[[a](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument#cite_note-1)] is an over-reliance on a familiar tool; as [Abraham Maslow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow) said in 1966, "I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail."[[1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument#cite_note-maslow66-2)]

---

**References**  
1 [déformation professionelle]. Bönisch, J. (2007, November 30). Déformation professionnelle: Beruflich bedingte Missbildung. *Süddeutsche Zeitung*. Retrieved from <http://www.sueddeutsche.de/karriere/deformation-professionnelle-beruflich-bedingte-missbildung-1.786888>.  
1 [law of the instrument]. Maslow, A. H. (1966/2004). *The psychology of science* (pp. 15). Maurice Bassett.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: The Dunning–Kruger effect is also worth considering; what do you think?  
> **username_6**: Cool! Hadn't heard of it before. It suits an interestingly different interpretation of the question. If the overconfidence is a consequence of lack of skill, rather than a consequence of misapplication of other skills, then yes, I think [the Dunning–Kruger effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect) would be an even better answer.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2014-06-17. Score: 4

> People base their perceptions of performance, in part, on their preconceived notions about their skills. Because these notions often do not correlate with objective performance, they can lead people to make judgments about their performance that have little to do with actual accomplishment.

This is an example of the Dunnig-Kruger effect[1] Simply stated, it is the cognitive bias that people who are ignorant of a subject/field overestimate their competence in that subject/field. *People tend to be unaware of their incompetence.*

Though this is an interesting phenomenon, it is not as specific to acheivement impairing one's ability to gauge competence as is *Déformation professionnelle.*

[1] Why People Fail to Recognize Their Own Incompetence, Dunnig et. al., Current Directions in Psychological Science, 82 (2002)


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-06-17. Score: 3

I think the most common verbage would be

> Poseur

Though often used in subcultural contexts, ['posuer / poser' means someone who affects an attitude or position](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poseur#Etymology_and_definitions) — which is very much the case when someone comes in from an external field and acts with the authority of a resident expert.

---

Still, I stand by my position that this question is best served at the English Language site, since the community there will provide amore-rich breadth of answers for consideration.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: You may have missed the specification that the term in question should be "in psychology". Poseur is nonscientific, as would most answers be at EL&U. Then again, I should admit I'm unaware of any empirical research focusing on Maslow's hammer, but at least Maslow was a psychologist (and proposed a lot of useful psychological theory without empirical research, as was more normative in his time).  
> **username_2**: sure. fair point  
> **username_7**: A _poseur_ may also be *consciously* engaging in behavior meant to give the appearance of competence. _Déformation professionelle_ (exceeding one's professional competence) is more of an unconscious bias that professionals are in some manner often trained to guard against. In the case of medicine the training is in the form of obligatory seminars offered by your malpractice insurance provider.  

---

