The Confidence Code (28 page)

  63  
from the world’s smartest people:
John Bohannon, “Why Are Some People So Smart? The Answer Could Spawn a Generation of Superbabies,”
Wired,
July 16, 2013.

  65  
and to be faithful:
Navneet Magon and Sanjay Kalra, “The orgasmic history of oxytocin: Love, lust, and labor,”
Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism
15 (2011): S156.

  65  
it even encourages monogamy:
Researchers in Germany rounded up fifty-seven men. Some were in committed relationships; others were single. All received a few hits of oxytocin via nasal spray before being “exposed” to an extremely attractive female researcher. As the woman moved toward and away from each of the men, they were asked to report when she was the “ideal distance” away from them. The ones who’d had some oxytocin, and who were in monogamous relationships, wanted to keep the scientific siren farther away—on average they kept her four to six inches farther away than the single men did. Now, the study didn’t say just how close the single guys wanted her to stand, or what she was wearing, clearly critical details. But check out the November, 2012, issue of the
Journal of Neuroscience
—it’s got a new, racy feel to it.

  65  
the delivery of oxytocin:
Shelley E. Taylor et al., “Gene-Culture Interaction Oxytocin Receptor Polymorphism (OXTR) and Emotion Regulation,”
Social Psychological and Personality Science
2, no. 6 (2011): 665–72.

  66  
encourages dramatic risk-taking:
Cynthia J. Thomson, “Seeking sensations through sport: An interdisciplinary investigation of personality and genetics associated with high-risk sport” (2013).

  66  
programmed to worry or fight:
Anil K. Malhotra et al., “A functional polymorphism in the COMT gene and performance on a test of prefrontal cognition,”
American Journal of Psychiatry
159, no. 4 (2002): 652–54.

  71  
environmental influence than others:
Nessa Carey,
The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease, and Inheritance
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2012); Richard C. Francis,
Epigenetics: How Environment Shapes Our Genes
(New York: Norton, 2012); Paul Tough, “The Poverty Clinic: Can a Stressful Childhood Make You a Sick Adult?”
New Yorker,
March 21, 2011; Stacy Drury, “Telomere Length and Early Severe Social Deprivation: Linking Early Adversity and Cellular Aging,”
Molecular Psychiatry
17 (2012): 719–27; Jonathan D. Rockoff, “Nature vs. Nurture: New Science Stirs Debate: How Behavior is Shaped; Who’s an Orchid, Who’s a Dandelion,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 16, 2013.

  74  
and their future offspring:
Frances Champagne and Michael J. Meaney, “Like mother, like daughter: Evidence for non-genomic transmission of parental behavior and stress responsivity,”
Progress in Brain Research
133 (2001): 287–302.

  74  
through their DNA:
Rachel Yehuda et al., “Transgenerational effects of posttraumatic stress disorder in babies of mothers exposed to the World Trade Center attacks during pregnancy,”
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
90, no. 7 (2005): 4115–18.

  74  
more likely to be obese:
Robert A. Waterland and Randy L. Jirtle, “Transposable Elements: Targets for Early Nutritional Effects on Epigenetic Gene Regulation,”
Molecular and Cellular Biology
23 (2003): 5293–3000.

  75  
thrive in many environments:
Bruce J. Ellis and W. Thomas Boyce, “Biological sensitivity to context,”
Current Directions in Psychological Science
17, no. 3 (2008): 183–87.

  76  
leaves a much larger imprint:
Avshalom Caspi et al., “Genetic sensitivity to the environment: The case of the serotonin transporter gene and its implications for studying complex diseases and traits,”
American Journal of Psychiatry
167, no. 5 (2010): 509.

  76  
more able to adapt:
E. Fox et al., “The Serotonin Transporter Gene Alters Sensitivity to Attention Bias Modification: Evidence for a Plasticity Gene,”
Biological Psychiatry
70 (2011): 1049–54.

  78  
part of our hard-wiring:
Richard J. Davidson and Bruce S. McEwen, “Social Influences on Neuroplasticity: Stress and Interventions to Promote Well-Being,”
Nature Neuroscience
15 (2012): 689–95; Peter S. Eriksson et al., “Neurogenesis in the Adult Human Hippocampus,”
Nature Medicine
4 (1998): 1313–17; Elizabeth Gould et al., “Neurogenesis in the Dentate Gyrus of the Adult Tree Shrew Is Regulated by Psychosocial Stress and NMDA Receptor Activation,”
Journal of Neuroscience
17 (1997): 2492–98; Gerd Kempermann and Fred H. Gage, “New Nerve Cells for the Adult Human Brain,”
Scientific American
280 (1999): 48–53; Jack M. Parent et al., “Dentate Granule Cell Neurogenesis Is Increased by Seizures and Contributes to Aberrant Network Reorganization in the Adult Rat Hippocampus,”
Journal of Neuroscience
17 (1997): 3727–38.

  79  
eight weeks of meditation:
Yi-Yuan Tang et al., “Mechanisms of White Matter Changes Induced by Meditation,”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(2012): doi:10.1073/pnas.1207817109; B. K. Hölzel et al., “Mindfulness Practice Leads to Increases in Regional Brain Gray Matter Density,”
Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
191 (2011): 36–43.

  79  
shrank and remained smaller:
B. K. Hölzel et al., “Stress Reduction Correlates with Structural Changes in the Amygdala,”
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
5 (2010): 11–17.

  79  
back to the frontal cortex:
R. A. Bryant et al., “Amygdala and ventral anterior cingulate activation predicts treatment response to cognitive behaviour therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Psychological Medicine
38, no. 4 (2008): 555–62.

  79  
twelve adults with arachnophobia:
Marla Paul, Northwestern University, “Touching Tarantulas: People with spider phobia handle tarantulas and have lasting changes in fear response,” last modified May 21, 2012.

  81  
a series of video games:
G. Elliott Wimmer and Daphna Shohamy, “Preference by association: how memory mechanisms in the hippocampus bias decisions,”
Science
338, no. 6104 (2012): 270–73.

4: “Dumb Ugly Bitches” and Other Reasons Women Have Less Confidence

  87  
by every measure of profitability:
Joanna Barsh and Lareina Yee, “Unlocking the full potential of women in the US economy,” 2011, http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/organization/latest_thinking/unlocking_the_full_potential; International Monetary Fund, “Women, Work and the Economy,” September 2013, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2013/sdn1310.pdf; Catalyst, “The Bottom Line—Corporate performance and women’s representation on boards,” 2007, http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/bottom-line-corporate-performance-and-womens-representation-boards; McKinsey and Company, “Women Matter: Gender diversity, a corporate performance driver,” 2007, http://www.mckinsey.com/features/women_matter; Roy D. Adler, Ph.D., Pepperdine University, “Women in the executive suite correlate to high profits,” 2009, http://www.w2t.se/se/filer/adler_web.pdf; David Ross, Columbia Business School, “When women rank high, firms profit,” 2008, http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/ideas-at-work/publication/560/when-women-rank-high-firms-profit; Ernst and Young, “High achievers: Recognizing the power of women to spur business and economic growth,” 2013, http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Growing_Beyond_-_High_Achievers/$FILE/High%20achievers%20-%20Growing%20Beyond.pdf.

  87  
women began getting hired:
Claudia Goldin and Cecilia Rouse, “Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of ‘Blind’ Auditions on Female Musicians, no. w5903, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1997.

  88  
Research shows that:
Carol Dweck,
Mindset:
The New Psychology of Success
(New York: Random House Digital, 2006).

  90  
in male-dominated industries:
Erin Irick, “NCAA Sports Spon-sorship and Participation Rates Report: 1981–1982—2010–2011),” Indianapolis, IN, National Collegiate Athletics Association, 69.

  90  
rose sixfold from 1972 to 2011:
Alana Glass,
Forbes
, “Title IX At 40: Where Would Women Be Without Sports?,” last modified May 23, 2012, http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsmoney/2012/05/23/title-ix-at-40-where-would-women-be-without-sports/2/.

  91  
The Centers for Disease Control:
Brooke de Lench,
Home Team Advantage: The Critical Role of Mothers in Youth Sports
(New York: HarperCollins, 2006).

  91  
Academics confirm what we know:
L. Moldando, University of South Florida, “Impact of early adolescent anxiety disorders on self-esteem development from adolescence to young adulthood,” August 2013.

  91  
Psychologists believe:
Carol J. Dweck, “The Mindset of a Champion,” last modified 2013, accessed October 9, 2013, http://champions.stanford.edu/perspectives/the-mindset-of-a-champion/.

  95  
and become overly deferential:
Anastasia Prokos and Irene Padavic, “ ‘There oughtta be a law against bitches’: Masculinity lessons in police academy training,” G
ender, Work & Organization
9, no. 4 (2002): 439–59.

  96  
on a group of men and women:
Victoria Brescoll, “Who Takes the Floor and Why: Gender, Power, and Volubility in Organizations,”
Sage Journals
, last modified March 26, 2012, http://asq.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/02/28/0001839212439994.

  97  
the reality of “stereotype threat”:
Joshua Aronson and Claude Steele, “Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
69 (1995).

  98  
a paid maternity leave:
Lawrence M. Berger, Jennifer Hill, and Jane Waldfogel, “Maternity leave, early maternal employment and child health and development in the US,”
Economic Journal
115, no. 501 (2005): F29–F47.

  98  
The latest Global Gender Gap Report:
World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report, 2013.

  99  
actually think we are beautiful:
“Dove Campaign for Real Beauty,”
Eating Disorders: An Encyclopedia of Causes, Treatment, and Prevention
(2013): 147.

  100  
women are indeed judged more harshly at work:
Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Center for Talent Innovation Study, 2011; Mark V. Roehling, “Weight-based discrimination in employment: Psychological and legal aspects,”
Personnel Psychology
52, no. 4 (1999): 969–1016; “The Seven Ways Your Boss Is Judging Your Appearance,”
Forbes
, November 2012; Lisa Quast, “Why Being Thin Can Actually Translate Into a Bigger Paycheck for Women,”
Forbes
, June 6, 2011, http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2011/06/06/can-being-thin-actually-translate-into-a-bigger-paycheck-for-women/.

102  
A study of recent graduates:
Leslie McCall, “Gender and the new inequality: Explaining the college/non-college wage gap,”
American Sociological Review
(2000): 234–55.

104  
dangers of excessive rumination:
Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Blair E. Wisco, and Sonja Lyubomirsky, “Rethinking rumination,”
Perspectives on Psychological Science
3, no. 5 (2008): 400–424.

106  
a healthy sign of resilience:
Travis J. Carter and David Dunning, “Faulty Self-Assessment: Why Evaluating One’s Own Competence Is an Intrinsically Difficult Task,”
Social and Personality Psychology Compass
2, no. 1 (2008): 346–60.

107  
a largely female issue:
Robert M. Lynd-Stevenson and Christie M. Hearne, “Perfectionism and depressive affect: The pros and cons of being a perfectionist,”
Personality and Individual Differences
26, no. 3 (1999): 549–62; Jacqueline K. Mitchelson, “Seeking the Perfect Balance: Perfectionism and Work-Family Balance,”
Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology
82, no. 23 (2009): 349–67.

107  
authors of
The Plateau Effect:
Bob Sullivan and Hugh Thompson,
The Plateau Effect
(New York: Dutton Adult, 2013).

109  
It Matters Where the Matter Is:
For an overview on brain differences, we’d suggest the
The Female Brain
by Louann Brizendine or
Unleash the Power of the Female Brain
by Daniel G. Amen. Also extremely helpful is the growing body of literature by researchers such as Gert De Vries, Patrica Boyle, Richard Simmerly, Kelly Cosgrove and Larry Cahill. And finally, this comprehensive review of literature is extremely helpful: check out Glenda E. Gillies and Simon McArthur’s article, “Estrogen Actions in the Brain and the Basis for Differential Action in Men and Women: A Case for Sex-Specific Medicines.”

109  
identify male versus female:
Doreen Kimura, “Sex differences in the brain,”
Scientific American
267, no. 3 (1992): 118–25.

109  
relative to their body size:
C. Davison Ankney, “Sex differences in relative brain size: The mismeasure of woman, too?,”
Intelligence
16, no. 3 (1992): 329–36.

109  
on language arts:
Michael Gurian,
Boys and Girls Learn Differently! A Guide for Teachers and Parents
, rev. 10th anniversary ed., Wiley. com, 2010.

109  
One Harvard study:
Tor D. Wager, K. Luan Phan, Israel Liberzon, and Stephan F. Taylor, “Valence, gender, and lateralization of functional brain anatomy in emotion: A meta-analysis of findings from neuroimaging,”
Neuroimage
19, no. 3 (2003): 513–31.