The University of Michigan proudly announces the good news about Ig Nobel Prize winners David Dunning [pictured here] and Justin Kruger:
Announcement of the New (2023) Prize
Dave Dunning Wins the Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP) Scientific Impact Award
Dr. David Dunning has won the Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP) Scientific Impact Award. According to the SESP, this award “honors the authors of articles or chapters that provide a theoretical, empirical, and/or methodological contribution that has proven highly influential over the last 25 years.” Dave Dunning along with his collaborator, Justin Kruger, were honored for their paper that gave rise to the concept of the Dunning-Kruger effect. More specifically, the citation for the paper is:
Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1121–1134.
Not only has this paper been cited 9461 times, but it has also accomplished the rare feat of creating a concept that has been thoroughly adopted in the broader society.
An Earlier (2000) Prize
This week’s University of Michigan announcement modestly does not mention the much earlier prize that honored that research — and that rapidly brought the Dunning-Kruger Effect to much wider international attention.
The 2000 Ig Nobel Psychology Prize was awarded to David Dunning and Justin Kruger, for their modest report, “Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments.”
An Opera Song (2017)
The 2017 Ig Nobel Prize ceremony included the premiere of a mini-opera about the Dunning-Kruger effect. Here is historic video of the rousing conclusion of that opera: the first public performance of “The Dunning Kruger Song”: