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Tips From the Top: Do the Best Performers Really Give the Best Advice?
David E Levari1, Daniel T Gilbert2, Timothy D Wilson3
1Harvard Business School, Harvard University.
Psychological Science
|April 18, 2022
Summary
Seeking advice from top performers may not yield better results. Studies show people often mistake the quantity of advice for its quality, even when performance and advising skills are unrelated.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Individuals often seek advice from high-performing experts to improve their own skills.
- The assumption that expertise in performance directly translates to quality advice is widespread.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether advice from top performers is genuinely more beneficial than advice from average performers.
- To understand the psychological mechanisms behind advice-seeking behavior and the perception of advice quality.
Main Methods:
- Conducted a series of studies with 8,693 adult participants.
- Participants played a game after receiving advice from previous players.
- Advice sources varied in their past performance levels.
Main Results:
- Advice from the highest-performing individuals was not significantly more beneficial than advice from other participants.
- Participants perceived advice from top performers as more valuable, irrespective of its actual utility.
- Participants' perception of advice quality was influenced by the quantity of advice received, not its performance-based quality.
Conclusions:
- Performing well and providing effective advice are not necessarily correlated skills.
- Individuals may commonly misattribute the quality of advice based on the perceived status or quantity of advice from top performers.
- Rethinking reliance on top performers for advice in certain domains is warranted.
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