It's easy to see how people might overestimate their chances.

The spotlight effect also relates to how people overestimate attention focused on them.

He also discusses how people consistently overestimate the appreciation in the value of their homes.

Not only do these people overestimate demand, they tend to underestimate the effort required, in his view.

"I think people overestimate the power of government to affect science," he said.

She cautioned, however, that many people overestimate how much exercise they get.

First, people overestimate the number of times they will make the effort to get to the treadmill or the weight room.

"I think many people might have overestimated the Ford family's control in the black community," he said.

"It's a common conflict when young people overestimate themselves, and because they have high expectations, they're going to be a nightmare to manage."

And the sick people overestimated how happy healthy ones would be.