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Lower competence in dealing with tourism myths leads to considerable overconfidence among students.
The Dunning-Kruger effect is particularly pronounced among first-year students and postgraduates.
Critical thinking about tourism myths is hardly related to general logic.
Excessive self-confidence among students hinders critical reflection and jeopardizes research quality.
Summary of the study
There are many erroneous but widely held "truths" about tourism. This study assesses individuals' ability to challenge these myths and their self-perception of their critical thinking skills. The research used a survey of 1493 respondents from 22 universities in 16 countries/territories to test the Dunning-Kruger effect, which suggests an inverse relationship between self-beliefs and competence. The data provide strong evidence for the Dunning-Kruger effect, in that those who were more likely to believe in tourism myths also had a greater tendency to overestimate their abilities, and vice versa. The possible causes and implications for tourism education are discussed, identifying potential interventions at different points along learners' developmental trajectories to ensure a more sustainable future for tourism research and practice.
Key findings of this study
The study confirms the Dunning-Kruger effect in tourism and hospitality students:
- Individuals who believe tourism myths significantly overestimate their abilities, while more competent individuals tend to underestimate their performance.
- This effect is particularly strong among first-year and advanced students (4th year and postgraduates), but decreases in the 2nd and 3rd year of study.
- The ability to think critically about tourism myths is only weakly correlated with more general logical thinking or understanding of science myths, suggesting a domain-specific nature of critical thinking.
- Overconfidence, particularly in postgraduates, may inhibit critical reflection and limit the ability to grasp the complexity of tourism and challenge existing theories.
- The findings highlight the urgent need to adapt curricula and teaching methods in tourism education to specifically promote critical thinking and address potential 'intellectual danger points' in the learning process.
Publication: Stephen Pratt, Bing Panb, Elizabeth Agyeiwaah, Soey Sut Ieng Lei, Peter Lugosi, Ksenia Kirillova, Marit Piirman, Jonathan Lockwood Suttonh, H. Cristina Jönsson , Stefanie Haselwanter, Ryan P. Smith, Rupa Sinha, Tracy Bernom, Murray Mackenzien, Sonya Graci, Y. Venkata Raop, Linda Veliverronena, Bozana Zekanr, D.A.C. Suranga Silvas, Soyoung Park (2024)