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Americans have a reputation for being great, and that seems to apply to their opinion of their mathematical ability.
A global study found that American teenagers are more likely to overestimate their math and problem-solving ability than their English-speaking peers.
Using data from more than 40,000 15-year-olds in nine countries, researchers found that teens in the United States were the most likely to brag about their math knowledge, while teens in Ireland and Scotland were the least likely to do so. In general, American teenagers came out on top by exaggerating their math knowledge.
The researchers behind the study said overconfidence could have some advantages, such as being more willing to face challenges and make workplace negotiations, such as a salary increase.
Using data from more than 40,000 15-year-olds in nine countries, researchers found that teens in the U.S. were the most likely to brag about their math knowledge.
The study says researchers still know little about teenagers’ willingness to exaggerate their abilities and how it compares across countries.
Participants were asked if they were familiar with 16 mathematical terms, three of them false.
Adolescents were shown a list of terms, including exponential function, rational number, and arithmetic mean, and were asked their knowledge of each term on a five-point scale ranging from “never heard of it” to “had it.” I know well, I understand the concept.’
The three fake math terms on the list were proper number, subjunctive scale, and declarative fraction, which do not exist.
The questions were part of a two-hour mathematics test and a 30-minute background questionnaire from the OECD’s Program for International Studies Assessment (PISA) in 2012.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal. Evaluation in education: principles, policies and practices.
The study also found that teens who were more likely to exaggerate their math skills were also more likely to be overconfident in their academic, problem-solving, and perseverance skills.
For example, more than 40 percent of teens who were most likely to brag about their math skills said they would consult a textbook if their cell phone stopped sending text messages, while more than 50 percent of teens who were less prone to boast said they would simply press all the buttons on their phone to find the problem.
Teens who exaggerated were also more likely to say they could calculate a discount on television and find their destination using a map.
Teenagers who were more likely to exaggerate their math skills were also more likely to claim popularity among their school peers, but the evidence for this was not as strong.
The researchers behind the study said overconfidence could have some advantages, such as being more willing to face challenges and make workplace negotiations, such as a salary increase.
Boys were more likely than girls to exaggerate their math skills, and teens from more advantaged backgrounds were more confident than their less advantaged peers.
American teens were followed by Canadian teens as the most likely to exaggerate their math knowledge.
Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland were at the bottom of the list. Teenagers from Australia, New Zealand, England and Wales were in the middle.
Around 70 countries participated in PIS. The researchers focused on countries where English is the most common language to improve comparability.
John Jerrim, Professor of Education and Social Statistics at the UCL Institute of Education, led the study and said it provided new insights into overconfidence in adolescents.
“Although ‘overdoing it’ may at first seem like a negative social trait, we have previously found that overconfident people are more likely to land top jobs,” Jerrim said. “The fact that young men tend to demand more for their knowledge than young women, and that the rich are more likely to demand more than the poor, could be related to the different outcomes of these groups in the labor market.”