Illusory Superiority
Self-Enhancement Effect · Lake Wobegon Effect · Better-Than-Average Effect · Above-Average Effect · Superiority Bias · Positive Illusions
A cognitive bias where people overestimate their own qualities and abilities relative to others — most people, for example, rate themselves as above-average drivers.
Origin
In a landmark 1981 study, Swedish psychologist Ola Svenson at Stockholm University found that roughly 80% of drivers rated themselves above average in skill — a statistical impossibility that became a touchstone for the bias. The term "illusory superiority" was introduced by Dutch psychologists Nico Van Yperen and Bram Buunk in 1991. Separately, Shelley Taylor and Jonathon Brown's influential 1988 paper in Psychological Bulletin argued that such "positive illusions" — including inflated self-assessments — are prevalent among mentally healthy individuals. The popular synonym "Lake Wobegon effect" comes from Garrison Keillor's fictional radio town "where all the children are above average."