Confidence (or its absence) is contagious in the workplace, study finds

New research by Caltech's Kirby Nielsen, assistant professor of economics and William H. Hurt Scholar, shows that the gender gap in confidence that is often held responsible for women's underachievement in the workplace is "contagious"; that is, when evaluating a worker's performance based on self-assessments, reviewers will reward apparent self-confidence—and conversely, penalize a lack of confidence—rather than focusing solely on performance.