a real‐effort laboratory experiment, we cleanly identify the causal effect of an early success in a competition. We …

confidence contributing to the gender gap in competitiveness (the preference channel). To disentangle the two channels, we … propose a more precise measure of confidence based on whether the subjects' believed performance rank exceeds, coincides with … realistic. So, even if both genders had the same level of confidence, a persistent gender gap in preference (or taste) for …

the variation in confidence and competition entry decisions. Conservatism is correlated across tasks and predicts …. Asymmetry is less stable across tasks, but predicts competition entry by increasing self-confidence. …