Some of us are familiar with the urge to embellish a little when in the presence of a confident friend or colleague.
Now, a recent study has provided empirical evidence that confidence can indeed be contagious.
At Birkbeck, University of London, researchers conducted an experiment where participants had to assess the movement of points on a screen and rate their confidence in their decisions.
Participants then partnered with someone who also did the same task and shared their confidence levels (though the partner was actually a computer program disguised as a real person).
Afterwards, participants had to make the same assessments on their own repeatedly, gradually learning their partner’s level of confidence.
The study found that participants paired with a confident partner started to exhibit more confidence in their judgments, not just when sharing them but also when making decisions alone, indicating a genuine influence rather than mere pretense.
The researchers suggested that this social transfer of confidence could explain why certain groups, like financial traders, tend to display high confidence levels, leading to a contagion effect of bravado.
However, the study focused on confidence in a specific task rather than overall self-assurance, and did not track the persistence of confidence over time.
Nonetheless, this aligns with findings in personality research indicating that our behavior can be shaped by those we interact with.
Some individuals may be more susceptible to this influence than others, determining whether a confident friend’s presence is intimidating based on their adaptability in social situations.
This article responds to the question posed by Tom Davis via email: “Is confidence contagious?”
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