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AlexHanson007 t1_j1dt02z wrote

I love graphs like this where this is an implicit story!

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JohnGalt123456789 t1_j1e0qo2 wrote

What is your read on the story? Curious, and just wanting a bit more context, if you were willing to provide.

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AlexHanson007 t1_j1e2kr2 wrote

The question was "how do you compare yourself to others". Yet, the graph is not normally distributed but skewed to positive responses.

Unless the survey happened to pick an abnormally large group of the best present givers, it means that the people responding are overrating themselves.

They can't all be amazing!

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PseudoY t1_j1es84d wrote

Ah, but maybe bad gift givers more often refused to respond!

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comicmuse1982 t1_j1fai1y wrote

It's a perfect Lake Wobegone Effect demonstration.

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AlexHanson007 t1_j1fbj6n wrote

Indeed.

Had forgotten the name for that. Thank goodness Google exists.

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TripleATeam t1_j1h5dux wrote

Or... bad gift givers tend to have multiple discrete families?

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basketcase7 t1_j1gewoz wrote

> it means that the people responding are overrating themselves

Only if you assume that gift-giving ability is normally distributed. It doesn't have to be...

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AlexHanson007 t1_j1h6719 wrote

It's a comparison against others, not an independent and absolute rating. Assuming our sample population is not biased and is a fair reflection of society, then it does have to be normally distributed.

What this graph is saying is that, compared to others, most people are better at something. That's not possible. That would be like having a race and saying most people finished in 3rd place (assuming there aren't joint finishes).

As someone else pointed out, this is an example of the Lake Wobegon effect.

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Elendur_Krown t1_j1hfuas wrote

Why would it have to be normally distributed?

In my eyes a non-biased relative comparison could end up with a whole host of distributions. A relative measure only means that you'll translate and perhaps rescale the original distribution.

Do you have a theorem or specific result to refer to?

I should also point out that the Lake Wobegon effect is at its most relevant when the underlying distribution is symmetric. Meaning that the average and the median are equivalent. This does hold for e.g. normal distributions. But if we allow for distributions with long smaller-than-mean tails, it would be possible that a majority are better than the mean.

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theRedMage39 t1_j1egb1t wrote

At 999 people surveyed I would have gone out to the street o called someone I knew to get the 1000th person.

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wiintah_was_broken t1_j1hph7a wrote

I wonder if the poll was actually conducted on the street. In which case, a large portion of them were probably out shopping for gifts. Likely people at home would be the ones to admit they were crappy/lazy gift givers - and the ones out shopping would rate themselves higher 😂

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GuestCartographer t1_j1g4v7t wrote

I am, without question or hesitation, a terrible gift giver.

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The_ChwatBot t1_j1gz3zm wrote

Yeah, same. I’m good at getting my GF things I’ve heard her say she wants, but she’s waaay better at those special sentimental gifts that just make your heart melt.

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Logic_rocks t1_j1gaqtw wrote

80% of people think they are smarter than the average person.

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phdoofus t1_j1ed0fo wrote

I'm 100% better than my wife who has absolutely zero clue and will just tell me things like 'Get yourself something nice' or 'What do I get this person?'

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magbybaby t1_j1ei7hl wrote

Maybe this is un-Christmasy of me, but the question/ data collection methods do not make it clear that 50 is "average." Also, "Compared to your family members... Rank yourself on a scale" are two measurements in one question.

Do better be better. I read this as most people sheepishly assessing themselves in the low 80's - in an American audience, Good but not Great.

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TrickMichaels t1_j1gxwtz wrote

Great comment. Your thoughts here made me take another look at the graph and it looks a lot like what I would imagine a grading distribution on the A,B,C,D, F scale might look like. And I recon that Americans answering a question like this might rate themselves as 75 being a C or average. So this distribitution might be a bit less skewed than I thought at first.

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RadioactiveFruitCup t1_j1e88do wrote

Skill self evaluation charts usually look like this, trending towards a positive skew with the peak around 6.8-7.3 unless it’s a contentious/controversial question like “how good do you fuck” or “how good of a partner are you”.

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MaxRoofer t1_j1fy60v wrote

When it’s contentious how does it tend to look? Specifically, with how good to you fuck?

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Jaysonmcleod t1_j1fvyop wrote

In true average of 50 I’d say I’m a 60. In highschool grade score I’d say I’m a 78

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kummer5peck t1_j1febb8 wrote

Well we can’t all be better than average can we?

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[deleted] t1_j1gs6rw wrote

I am a horrible gift giver. I tell everyone not to get me stuff, but they still do.

I just buy whatever I want for myself? Is that so bad? I know what I like! Why should I force someone else to like something just because it’s a gift.

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vormittag t1_j1h5u9g wrote

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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SaNSaMiS t1_j1ha5io wrote

After the opium crisis, the US is facing the copium crisis

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Gaflinnigus_Flumming t1_j1hdfy2 wrote

Cant be a bad gift giver if youre too broke to ever give anyone gifts.

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SeeIKindOFCare t1_j1hnudf wrote

Its because the old fucked up the system

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tall_ben_wyatt t1_j1hs0xv wrote

-28 is my rating. I’m the worst at gift giving which only makes my anxiety even worse. I hate the holidays.

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TravelingSpermBanker t1_j1i0dmj wrote

What does a good gift mean?

I don’t think I put as much thought as my parents at all. But I make more than them so my gifts can sometimes be absurd displays of cash. Who is go say which is better? The sentimental one or the expensive useful one

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LifesACircle t1_j1i0kzo wrote

I don’t have any immediate family, so… 100 😆

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illiacfossa t1_j1i2zn2 wrote

I’m the best gift giver. I go all out. It’s my way to show love.

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zoemerino t1_j1iccws wrote

I want to know the difference between men and women

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JohnGalt123456789 t1_j1e0t0p wrote

What if we intentionally choose terrible gifts for the humor? So a terrible gift is actually an excellent gift?

Why the fuque is this being downvoted?? People without a sense of humor?

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