The Role of Overconfidence in Romantic Desirability and Competition

Four studies and a computer simulation tested the hypothesis that people who are overconfident in their self-assessments may be more successful in attracting mates. in study 1,overconfident people were perceived as more confident in their dating profiles,and this perceived confidence predicted increased romantic desirability. study 2 revealed that overconfident people also tend to be perceived as arrogant,which counteracts the positive effects of perceived confidence. however,study 3 revealed that overconfidence might confer an advantage in intrasexual competition,as people were less likely to compete with overconfident individuals by virtue of their perceived confidence and arrogance. study 4 showed that overconfident raters were also more likely to choose to compete for romantic partners. in study 5,agent-based modeling incorporating the coefficients from these studies suggested that overconfidence facilitates mate acquisition in the presence of intrasexual competition. © 2015,© 2015 by the society for personality and social psychology,inc.