Women, Politics — and No Confidence, Again

Here's the link to the total Washington Post article about women and politics that I refer to below:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/twenty-years-on-year-of-the-woman-fades/2012/03/21/gIQA41UUYS_story.html?hpid=z2


"It’s no longer a question of biased attitudes or entrenched resistance — at least, not on the part of voters or the political establishment.

'Study after study finds that, when women run for office, they perform just as well as their male counterparts. No differences emerge in women and men’s fundraising receipts, vote totals, or electoral success,' wrote [researchers]Lawless and Fox"

After researching 4,000 men and women, who were plausible political candidates, they concluded:

• Women are more likely than men to believe that voters are biased against female candidates
• Women are less confident in their own qualifications to run for office. "While 35 percent of the men they surveyed pronounced themselves “very qualified” for office, only 22 percent of the similarly situated women did."

The questions that come to my mind after reading this and many other articles about women and lack of confidence:


 * How do women lose confidence or fail to ever acquire confidence?

They believe the criticism of others, translate it into negative self-talk?

They learn the habit of putting themselves down early from modeling mothers', sisters' friends' negative self-talk?

Individual women also feel less confident as part of the "lessser confident" gender group?

Is it part of women's DNA? Hope not! Is it something we have some control of? For sure.

Part of my  interest in brain imagery and neuroscience is triggered by the desire to determine the anatomical, physiological source of NST which might lead to greater understanding of exactly HOW to eliminate the habit.