Do expert drivers have a reduced illusion of superiority? Andrea E. Waylen a , Mark S. Horswill b, * , Jane L. Alexander c , Frank P. McKenna c a Department of Community Based Medicine, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK b School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia c Department of Psychology, University of Reading, P.O. Box 238, Reading RG6 6AL, UK Abstract It is well established that people tend to rate themselves as better than average across many domains. To maintain these illusions, it is suggested that people distort feedback about their own and othersÕ perform- ance. This study examined expert/novice differences in self-ratings when people compared themselves with others of the same level of expertise and background as themselves. Given that a key expert characteristic is increased self-monitoring, we predicted that experts in a domain may have a reduced illusion of superiority because they are more aware of their actual ability. We compared expert police drivers with novice police drivers and found that this prediction was not supported. Expert police drivers rated themselves as superior to equally qualified drivers, to the same degree as novices, CohenÕsd = .03ns. Despite their extensive addi- tional training and experience, experts still appear to be as susceptible to illusions of superiority as everyone else. Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Unrealistic optimism; Expertise; Illusory biases; Driving; Training; Experience 1369-8478/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.trf.2004.09.009 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: m.horswill@psy.uq.edu.au (M.S. Horswill). www.elsevier.com/locate/trf Transportation Research Part F 7 (2004) 323–331