The Phenomenon of Confidence as Manifested in the Russian and German Cultures

An experimental crosscultural research is dedicated to the psychological phenomenon of confidence studied in Russian and German subjects. Specifically, selfJconfidence and confidence in the performance of cognitive tasks in sensory discrimination and self-knowledge were studied. The resulting comparative analysis of the selfJknowledge assessment indicated statistical "overconfidence" in the Russian subjects, and "insufficient confidence" in the German participants, who tended to display doubt more frequently, providing incorrect answers. Both groups of participants demonstrated "overconfidence" in the sensory discrimination task.

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