So people pick cockiness, or to use contemporary urban parlance, swagga’ over actual competence.  So says a researcher:

The research, by Don Moore of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, shows that we prefer advice from a confident source, even to the point that we are willing to forgive a poor track record. Moore argues that in competitive situations, this can drive those offering advice to increasingly exaggerate how sure they are.

The piece goes on to describe other ways in which people are more drawn to those who present themselves as self-assured.  Isn’t this something Jay Z, or Erving Goffman, already knows.  What does this fact of human behavior say about our politics?  It sure explains the appeal of a Glen Beck or Rush Limbaugh.  Maybe that’s the problem with the progressive left, it lacks swagga’… I mean Amy Goodman?  Al Franken?  Lovely people, I’m sure, but c’mon.  Even Chuck D couldn’t make Air America cool!

An interesting thought experiment would consider how you could operationalize cockiness?

HT: orgtheory.net