What about the value of positivity when it comes to big societal issues, like the well-known gender gap in many science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines, in which men outperform women? About 60 percent of this gap can be attributed to prior background and preparation, but that leaves 40 percent, much of which is due to the psychological hazards of feeling inferior, devalued, and even hardwired to fail. Being reminded that you are a woman before taking a test activates this negative feeling, leading women in this situation to perform even worse. But here’s an amazing finding. For
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