{"id":48628,"date":"2021-09-04T06:47:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-04T10:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=48628"},"modified":"2021-09-13T09:37:18","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T13:37:18","slug":"confidence-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"The Confidence Gap: Why Men Have More Self-Esteem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Why do women tend to be less confident than men? Can the confidence gap between genders be explained by genetic differences between males and females? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While there are no genetic differences between men and women\u2014the confidence-related gene variants are evenly distributed between genders\u2014the sexes do<em> <\/em>have physiological differences in their brains, think in different ways, and have different amounts of relevant hormones. Some of these differences may explain the confidence gap between men and women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is what neuroscience has to say about the confidence gap between men and women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Brain Differences and Confidence<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Women\u2019s and men\u2019s brains differ in the following ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Size and Distribution of Brain Matter<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Women\u2019s brains are smaller and lighter relative to body size than men\u2019s.<\/strong> This doesn\u2019t affect IQ. (Though some tests have found that women do better than men in language arts, and men are stronger in spatial skills and math.)<\/li><li><strong>Women have a larger cingulate gyrus<\/strong> (the part of the brain that spots mistakes, considers options, and worries).<\/li><li><strong>Most of women\u2019s brain matter is in the frontal cortex (reasoning hub) and some of it is in the limbic cortex (emotional hub).<\/strong> Men\u2019s brain matter is distributed throughout the brain and less than half is in the frontal cortex. This suggests <strong>the sexes process information differently.<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Women have more white brain matter<\/strong> (used for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-connections\/\">making connections<\/a>) and men have more gray matter (used for solving problems).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Brain Activity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Women\u2019s white matter often functions better than men\u2019s<\/strong>, particularly the white matter in the corpus callosum (the part of the brain that connects the left and right hemispheres). This suggests <strong>women can more easily use both sides of their brains. <\/strong>The left side is responsible for logic and math and the right for emotion and creativity; using both helps us multitask and is cognitively advanced.<\/li><li><strong>Women\u2019s brains are more active than men\u2019s<\/strong>, especially in the prefrontal and limbic cortex. According to psychiatrist Daniel Amen, the activity in these places is probably responsible for women\u2019s skills with empathy, collaboration, and multitasking, among other things. But, this activity also makes women more vulnerable to ruminating and confidence-killing anxiety.<ul><li>For example, one study found that women\u2019s brains are firing 30% more neurons than men\u2019s.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Women use the amygdala (primitive fear centers) associated with thoughts, emotions, and memory more often<\/strong> than the one associated with action in response to negative emotions. Men do the opposite.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>An active brain was useful in earlier times\u2014worrying and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-pay-attention\/\">paying attention<\/a> to our surroundings helped us survive. Today, however, we don\u2019t have to worry about predators lurking in the bushes. It\u2019s still useful to make good decisions and avoid bad impulses, but ruminating and worrying don\u2019t make us happy or confident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Confidence-Gene-Related Neurotransmitters<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Women\u2019s brains produce around half the serotonin men\u2019s do.<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Women who have the two short-strands version of the serotonin transporter are more likely to be anxious than men<\/strong> with this version (though neither sex is more likely than the other to get this version).<\/li><li>Similarly, <strong>women who have the \u201cworrier\u201d COMT variant are more likely to be anxious than men who have it.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>When Do These Differences Develop?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>These differences in thinking and even capability show up at different stages of development:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Israeli researchers found differences between girls\u2019 and boys\u2019 brains at 26 weeks after conception.<\/li><li>The National Institutes of Health found that by age 11, girls are behind boys in spatial ability, and boys are behind girls when it comes to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-process-emotions\/\">processing emotions<\/a> and language. Anatomically, their brain capabilities match up again at around age 18.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Plasticity<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Scientists don\u2019t know if these brain differences are due to how we\u2019re raised, how we act (for example, we may have more white matter because our women ancestors used it more), or whether they\u2019re programmed in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scientists <em>do <\/em>know that brains are plastic\u2014they can change. <em>All <\/em>of us, regardless of age, can physically change our brains, which means that <strong>if you <\/strong><strong><em>choose <\/em><\/strong><strong>to change your thinking and mental habits, you can rewire yourself to be more confident, regardless of your genes or sex.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a few strategies you can use to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/rewire-your-brain\/\">rewire your brain<\/a>. Both shift activity from the amygdala to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-does-the-prefrontal-cortex-do-in-the-brain\/\">prefrontal cortex<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Strategy #1: Cognitive behavioral therapy <\/strong>is a technique for managing worst-case scenario thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>For example, for people who were afraid of spiders, cognitive behavioral therapy involved talking about how tarantulas were scared of people and how people\u2019s fears of tarantulas were unfounded. (For instance, tarantulas aren\u2019t constantly plotting how to jump on people.)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Cognitive-behavioral therapy is the most effective strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>For example, one study scanned the brains of people who were afraid of spiders as they looked at photos of spiders. There was action in the amygdala and the other parts of the brain involved with fear. After two hours of behavioral therapy, the participants had a normal amount of amygdala action and more activity in the prefrontal cortex. They were even able to touch a live tarantula. The effects lasted at least six months\u2014when people were retested, they could still touch spiders.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Strategy #2: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/eckhart-tolle-meditation-mindfulness\/\">Meditation<\/a>.<\/strong> Meditation can quiet the amygdala.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>For example, one experiment on stressed business people found that their amygdala shrank after meditation.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Memory and Plasticity<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Memory is also a factor when it comes to plasticity and our ability to choose confidence\u2014<strong>our past experiences inform what we think will happen in the present.<\/strong> This influence can be unconscious\u2014one study discovered that the hippocampus, which is responsible for consolidating memories, can affect our choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>For example, a study asked participants to play video games in which they had to choose between two images, one of which would reward them. Later, in a different game, participants were asked to pick two images again, but this time, there was no reward. The participants often chose an image that had been beside the rewarded choice in the first game. They had no conscious memory of choosing that image for a reason, but their brain scans showed the hippocampus lighting up as they decided on the image.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You can\u2019t control your unconscious, but you can build up new, positive memories for it to draw on instead.<\/strong> This will help you break free of habitual negative thoughts. Cognitive neuroscientist Laura-Ann Petitto describes this process as akin to building an overpass. If something happened in your childhood that shook your confidence, this created a memory highway in your brain. Your brain will reflexively go down the highway when you encounter situations similar to whatever created the highway. You might not ever be able to tear up the highway, but you can build overpasses and take those routes instead.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hormones and Confidence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, we\u2019ll discuss two hormones that may be implicated in the confidence gap between genders: testosterone and estrogen. Both men and women have testosterone, but post-puberty, men have around 10 times more than women.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Testosterone<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Testosterone is responsible for muscle size, speed, strength, and feelings of power. <strong>It\u2019s also related to risk-taking, ignoring warnings, and the \u201cwinner effect\u201d<\/strong> (winning creates testosterone, which then encourages additional risk-taking in the hopes of winning again).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>For example, Cambridge University scientists tested the testosterone levels of male stock traders for a week. When they started the day with higher testosterone levels, they made riskier trades. When these trades worked out, their testosterone levels rose significantly.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Testosterone limits certain abilities, like cooperating and seeing other people\u2019s points of view.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>For example, one study asked pairs of women to look at two images and agree on which was clearer. The pairs of women who received a testosterone supplement had more difficulty agreeing and were more often wrong.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Women can increase their testosterone levels by adopting male postures, like taking up space while sitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Estrogen<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Estrogen encourages observation, social skills, and connection. Like testosterone, it has limitations too\u2014it contributes to risk avoidance, which can kill confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, risk aversion isn\u2019t always bad and estrogen\u2019s effects can enhance performance and success. Taking big risks doesn\u2019t always work out well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>For example, one study found that over five years, women hedge fund managers&#8217; investments did three times better than men\u2019s.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why do women tend to be less confident than men? Can the confidence gap between genders be explained by genetic differences between males and females? While there are no genetic differences between men and women\u2014the confidence-related gene variants are evenly distributed between genders\u2014the sexes do have physiological differences in their brains, think in different ways, and have different amounts of relevant hormones. Some of these differences may explain the confidence gap between men and women. Here is what neuroscience has to say about the confidence gap between men and women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,160],"tags":[489],"class_list":["post-48628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-science","tag-the-confidence-code","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Confidence Gap: Why Men Have More Self-Esteem - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why do women tend to be less confident than men? Here is what neuroscience has to say about the confidence gap between genders.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Confidence Gap: Why Men Have More Self-Esteem\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why do women tend to be less confident than men? Here is what neuroscience has to say about the confidence gap between genders.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-04T10:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-13T13:37:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-neanderthal-dna.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"799\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"412\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"The Confidence Gap: Why Men Have More Self-Esteem\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-04T10:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-13T13:37:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/\"},\"wordCount\":1385,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-neanderthal-dna.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Confidence Code\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/\",\"name\":\"The Confidence Gap: Why Men Have More Self-Esteem - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-neanderthal-dna.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-04T10:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-13T13:37:18+00:00\",\"description\":\"Why do women tend to be less confident than men? Here is what neuroscience has to say about the confidence gap between genders.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-neanderthal-dna.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-neanderthal-dna.jpg\",\"width\":799,\"height\":412},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Confidence Gap: Why Men Have More Self-Esteem\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\",\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"caption\":\"Darya Sinusoid\"},\"description\":\"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Confidence Gap: Why Men Have More Self-Esteem - Shortform Books","description":"Why do women tend to be less confident than men? Here is what neuroscience has to say about the confidence gap between genders.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Confidence Gap: Why Men Have More Self-Esteem","og_description":"Why do women tend to be less confident than men? Here is what neuroscience has to say about the confidence gap between genders.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-09-04T10:47:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-13T13:37:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":799,"height":412,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-neanderthal-dna.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darya Sinusoid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darya Sinusoid","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/"},"author":{"name":"Darya Sinusoid","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46"},"headline":"The Confidence Gap: Why Men Have More Self-Esteem","datePublished":"2021-09-04T10:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-13T13:37:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/"},"wordCount":1385,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-neanderthal-dna.jpg","keywords":["The Confidence Code"],"articleSection":["Psychology","Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/","name":"The Confidence Gap: Why Men Have More Self-Esteem - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-neanderthal-dna.jpg","datePublished":"2021-09-04T10:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-13T13:37:18+00:00","description":"Why do women tend to be less confident than men? Here is what neuroscience has to say about the confidence gap between genders.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-neanderthal-dna.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-neanderthal-dna.jpg","width":799,"height":412},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confidence-gap\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Confidence Gap: Why Men Have More Self-Esteem"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46","name":"Darya Sinusoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","caption":"Darya Sinusoid"},"description":"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-neanderthal-dna.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48628"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48986,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48628\/revisions\/48986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}