Can someone be both overconfident and underconfident at the same time?

Question

Could both these traits be attributed to insecurity, stupidity, or just plain blindness to one's own ability? If it is a result of ignorance then how could someone go about resolving this problem?

If you are going to say listen to what others say... I would say that only has SOME merit seeing that people can be dumb sometimes.

What if you get criticized for being over/under confident for contradictory things from different people? Is this because you hold an unstable self-concept, or due to a mental instability of some sort? (Bi-polar disorder, Borderline personality etc.)

Answer 1

yep!

most over confident people are only hiding their insecurities.

Answer 2

Lots of people have too much confidence in their own worth.

That comes from ignorance. In some cases it can be a clue to diagnosing a form of mental illness.

In the case of being criticized by others for your level of confidence, it's always wise to do two things.

(1)
Consider possible motives for the comment. Not everyone gives comments with good thoughts in mind. And not all negative criticism is intended to harm. This is called "consider the source".

(2)
Try to honestly assess yourself in the area being criticized. Test yourself to others in the same area of concern.

Answer 3

Hm...... I am not sure this actually directly relates to your question, but I think so. I'm going to use myself as an example.

I believe that I am a better person than most people because I value the communal benefit over my individual benefit. Because I find communal benefit good and individual benefit bad, I judge most others because most people are self serving. I then judge myself for judging others because I understand that most people are merely ignorant and incapable of seeing what is truly good.

So, I am arguably "overconfident" in my goodness. By the same token the judgements that this confidence provokes in me makes me "underconfident" in my value as a human being....

Again, I'm not sure how this directly applies to your question, but make of it what you think is appropriate = )