<p>It seems like your question is tapping into a number of different questions. First, you might ask about what causes people  to perceive expertise in others verus what causes people to perceive expertise in themselves. Second, there is the question of when are expertise perceptions inflated and if so what individuals are prone to this and what tasks are more likely to induce this.</p>

<h3>What makes someone be perceived as an expert?</h3>

<p>I imagine the question can be answered somewhat by casual observation. Having appropriate qualifications, having a known track record of behaviour indicative of expertise, dressing and behaving like other experts, presenting ideas and acting with confidence, an so on are presumably related to perceptions of expertise. 
Of course, some people exploit these signs to demonstrate expertise that they don't possess (e.g., using technical jargon to intimidate; exaggerating stories of past successes). </p>

<h3>What tasks lead to inflated sense of expertise?</h3>

<p>You use the example of detecting deception. This suggests you are interested in why people would think that they are "experts" at detecting deception, even when they are actually relatively poor at the task.</p>

<p>There are many similar tasks which are renowned for involving inflated perceptions of expertise. These include driving a car, speculating on the stock market, lie detection, evaluating employees from job interviews, and so on.
For many of these tasks, there is a literature on why people tend to have an inflated opinion of their own expertise (e.g., see this previous question on <a href="https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/55/what-is-the-relationship-between-self-perceptions-and-actual-driving-ability">self-perceptions of driving ability</a>.</p>

<p>As for causes of inflated expertise, you might look at as interaction between task and person features. </p>

<p>Task features include: </p>

<ul>
<li>lack of objective feedback on absolute and comparative performance (e.g., we don't usually find out when someone has lied to us; we don't find out how well the employee we did not hire would have performed) </li>
<li>outcomes are inherently relatively unrelated to behaviour (e.g., stock market speculation)</li>
</ul>

<p>Person features:</p>

<p>There are wide range of psychological processes that can lead people to have inflated perceptions of their own expertise (for instance see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biases_in_judgment_and_decision_making" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this list</a>).
Take two examples, first self-serving bias reflects one general bias. People may wish to see themselves as experts and thus they may rationalise their experience so as to justify inflated self perception. Second, people often don't know what they don't know. </p>

<h3>Concluding thoughts</h3>

<p>A lot more could be said about all this, but I imagine more interesting answers could be provided by a more focused question. If interest lies in a particular domain of inflated expertise such as lie detection, then there is a dedicated literature on that. Or if interest is focused on the most effective way to demonstrate expertise in some context such as leadership or advertising or ongoing relationships, there will also be a specific literature on that.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-08T05:47:22.580Z
2013-02-08T05:47:22.580Z
2017-04-13T12:56:16.417Z
Jeromy Anglim
<p>For example, some people believe they are excellent human lie detectors. But, research shows that the average person is only able to detect deception about 54% of the time. What techniques could be used to influence perceived expertise?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-12-10T21:40:36.333Z
good question! but i don't understand the example. if the average person can detect deception 54% of the time, then anyone who can do better than 54% actually **is** a good lie detector, no?
Jeff
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-12-10T22:12:41.467Z
@Jim: There is a guy at work with a pocket protector, thick glasses, always wears sweater vests and is not sociable....
Greg McNulty
<perception><expertise>
What factors influence a person's perceived expertise?
Jim
# What factors influence a person's perceived expertise?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-12-10)

For example, some people believe they are excellent human lie detectors. But, research shows that the average person is only able to detect deception about 54% of the time. What techniques could be used to influence perceived expertise?

**Tags:** perception, expertise

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: good question! but i don't understand the example. if the average person can detect deception 54% of the time, then anyone who can do better than 54% actually **is** a good lie detector, no?  
> **username_2**: @username_0: There is a guy at work with a pocket protector, thick glasses, always wears sweater vests and is not sociable....  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2013-02-08. Score: 1

It seems like your question is tapping into a number of different questions. First, you might ask about what causes people to perceive expertise in others verus what causes people to perceive expertise in themselves. Second, there is the question of when are expertise perceptions inflated and if so what individuals are prone to this and what tasks are more likely to induce this.

### What makes someone be perceived as an expert?

I imagine the question can be answered somewhat by casual observation. Having appropriate qualifications, having a known track record of behaviour indicative of expertise, dressing and behaving like other experts, presenting ideas and acting with confidence, an so on are presumably related to perceptions of expertise.
Of course, some people exploit these signs to demonstrate expertise that they don't possess (e.g., using technical jargon to intimidate; exaggerating stories of past successes).

### What tasks lead to inflated sense of expertise?

You use the example of detecting deception. This suggests you are interested in why people would think that they are "experts" at detecting deception, even when they are actually relatively poor at the task.

There are many similar tasks which are renowned for involving inflated perceptions of expertise. These include driving a car, speculating on the stock market, lie detection, evaluating employees from job interviews, and so on.
For many of these tasks, there is a literature on why people tend to have an inflated opinion of their own expertise (e.g., see this previous question on [self-perceptions of driving ability](https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/55/what-is-the-relationship-between-self-perceptions-and-actual-driving-ability).

As for causes of inflated expertise, you might look at as interaction between task and person features.

Task features include:

* lack of objective feedback on absolute and comparative performance (e.g., we don't usually find out when someone has lied to us; we don't find out how well the employee we did not hire would have performed)
* outcomes are inherently relatively unrelated to behaviour (e.g., stock market speculation)

Person features:

There are wide range of psychological processes that can lead people to have inflated perceptions of their own expertise (for instance see [this list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biases_in_judgment_and_decision_making)).
Take two examples, first self-serving bias reflects one general bias. People may wish to see themselves as experts and thus they may rationalise their experience so as to justify inflated self perception. Second, people often don't know what they don't know.

### Concluding thoughts

A lot more could be said about all this, but I imagine more interesting answers could be provided by a more focused question. If interest lies in a particular domain of inflated expertise such as lie detection, then there is a dedicated literature on that. Or if interest is focused on the most effective way to demonstrate expertise in some context such as leadership or advertising or ongoing relationships, there will also be a specific literature on that.


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