Why Self-Doubt Can Lead to Better Thinking
Isabella Lewis July 25, 2025
Self‑doubt isn’t a flaw—it’s a tool. By questioning assumptions and recognising limits, doubt can sharpen thinking and improve decision‑making. Let’s explore the latest research and trends showing why self‑doubt leads to better thinking.
Why Self‑Doubt Leads to Better Thinking
1. Boosting Metacognitive Awareness with Doubt
When we doubt ourselves, we engage in metacognitive reflection—thinking about how we think. That awareness—knowing your knowledge limits and uncertainty—enhances accuracy and decision quality. This trait is often termed intellectual humility, linked to better critical thinking, openness to new ideas, and reduced susceptibility to misinformation.
2. Countering Overconfidence and the Dunning–Kruger Bias
Studies show that overconfident individuals typically overestimate their abilities, while self‑doubt helps prevent this trap. The Dunning–Kruger effect shows how unskilled people often think they’re better than they are. Doubt keeps you grounded, prompting self‑assessment and learning.
3. Motivating Growth and Quality Work
Self‑doubt triggers deeper effort. As described by Alice Boyes, Ph.D., balancing confidence and doubt leads people to examine blind spots, ask for help when needed, and strive for higher standards—especially compared to those who feel they already “know it all”.
Emerging Trends: Self‑Doubt in AI and Cognitive Research
AI Models Facing Overthinking
A recent study in May 2025 analysed overthinking in AI large‑language models using long chain‑of‑thought reasoning. Researchers found excessive self‑doubt causes LLMs to over‑verify correct answers—wasting tokens and reducing efficiency. By prompting the model to question the input validity and then respond concisely, the method reduces overthinking and improves performance across multiple reasoning tasks. This trend shows how even artificial systems benefit from calibrated doubt.
Anthropic research reveals AI models perform worse with extended reasoning time, challenging industry assumptions about test-time compute scaling. This creates a paradox where more thinking time doesn’t always lead to better outcomes. The challenge involves developing uncertainty quantification methods that help AI systems assess their confidence levels and know when to stop deliberating, preventing analysis paralysis while maintaining accuracy.
Renewed Focus on Construct Breadth in Metacognition
Metacognition research is experiencing a significant shift toward balancing construct breadth with measurement rigor, with researchers proposing that construct breadth can be restored while maintaining rigorous measurement. Traditional research focused on narrow, easily measurable aspects of self-awareness, but recent work emphasizes capturing the full spectrum of metacognitive abilities.
Scientists highlight how diverse metacognitive abilities—like recognizing biases, knowing when to doubt oneself, understanding knowledge limits, and adapting thinking strategies—can lead to more rigorous self‑evaluation and adaptable thinking in complex environments. This expanded approach recognizes that metacognition operates across multiple domains, from immediate task judgments to long-term beliefs about cognitive capabilities, moving beyond simple confidence ratings to examine the rich processes that guide human cognition.
Practical Guide: Cultivating Smart Self‑Doubt
Use these steps to intentionally harness self‑doubt and boost thinking:
Step 1: Practice Intellectual Humility
Acknowledge limits—don’t assume you’re always right. Ask: What don’t I know? What might I be missing? This mindset opens you to alternative views and reduces bias.
Step 2: Use Structured Reflection (Pre‑mortems & Post‑mortems)
Before making decisions, imagine how they might fail—a technique recommended by Kahneman. After decisions, review what went wrong. This habit sharpens awareness and activates doubt when useful.
Step 3: Seek Feedback to Recalibrate
Research in mental health shows anxious individuals often undervalue their abilities due to metacognitive distortions—but positive external feedback helps realign self‑perception and restore balanced confidence.
Step 4: Balance Doubt with Growth Mindset
Fixed‑mindset individuals avoid challenges to protect self‑image, whereas growth‑mindset people embrace mistakes as learning signals. Doubt fuels Pe brain signals—error processing—that support rapid learning and adaptive improvement.
Real‑World Examples of Doubt Driving Better Thinking
| Domain | How Self‑Doubt Helped Improve Thinking |
|---|---|
| Innovation & science | Doubts spark questioning of assumptions; leads to novel solutions |
| Business decision‑making | Leaders with calibrated doubt avoid costly overreach |
| AI development | Doubt‑based prompts reduce overthinking in reasoning models |
Common Pitfalls: When Self‑Doubt Becomes Counterproductive
Persistent underconfidence—found in anxiety and depression—can actually block action and hinder growth. When self-doubt becomes chronic, it creates a paralyzing cycle where individuals avoid challenges altogether, missing opportunities for skill development and positive experiences that could rebuild their confidence. The anxious mind catastrophizes potential failures while minimizing past successes, creating a distorted reality where taking action feels impossibly risky. But corrective feedback can help rebalance perception by providing objective evidence that challenges these distorted beliefs and gradually rebuilds a more accurate self-assessment.
Defensive pessimism, where lowered expectations cushion anxiety, can work when paired with strong goal focus—but may backfire if it becomes immobilizing. This strategy involves deliberately setting low expectations to manage anxiety, which can reduce stress and motivate preparation. However, when defensive pessimism crosses into learned helplessness, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where reduced effort leads to poor performance that confirms pessimistic expectations. The key distinction lies in whether the pessimism serves as a motivational tool or becomes an excuse for inaction.
Supporting Calibrated Doubt: Strategies That Work
Metacognitive Training (MCT): A therapeutic approach that helps people change unhelpful beliefs about thinking—for anxiety, depression, OCD—and promotes healthier self‑evaluation. MCT teaches individuals to recognize cognitive biases and question automatic thoughts through structured exercises. The approach emphasizes “thinking about thinking,” helping people develop awareness of their blind spots and learn to pause before jumping to conclusions. Research shows MCT improves decision-making accuracy by reducing both overconfidence and excessive self-doubt.
Growth‑mindset coaching: Teaching people to frame failures as learning increases error‑awareness signals and drives improvement. This approach transforms mistakes from sources of shame into valuable data points for growth. Coaches help clients reframe setbacks by asking “What can this teach me?” rather than “Why did I fail?” This shift naturally increases sensitivity to errors and creates psychological safety around admitting uncertainty.
Feedback loops: Timely, structured external feedback helps align self‑perception more accurately. Effective systems provide multiple perspectives and regular reality-testing opportunities. The key is creating environments where honest feedback is welcomed, delivered close to relevant decisions, and designed to be specific and actionable. Well-designed loops also include self-monitoring components to track prediction accuracy over time.
Conclusion
In a world tempted by the lure of overconfidence—between AI that overthinks and humans who overestimate—why self‑doubt can lead to better thinking is an idea gaining traction across disciplines. Calibrated self‑doubt fuels intellectual humility, sharper learning, and smarter decisions. When balanced with confidence, doubt becomes the engine of metacognitive growth and critical insight.
Takeaway: instead of fearing doubt, use it. Ask the hard questions. Reflect. Seek feedback. That’s how thinking gets better.
Reference
Whittlestone, J. (2015). Why self‑doubt may be good for you. Retrieved from Jess Whittlestone website: jesswhittlestone.com/blog
Boyes, A. (2018). The Upside of Self‑Doubt. Psychology Today. Retrieved from psychologytoday.com
Huston, T. (2016). How Self‑Doubt Can Actually Help You Make Decisions. Time. Retrieved from time.com/4432856/self‑doubt‑decisions
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