The hit to men's self-esteem is made worse because men consistently view themselves as smarter and more competent than they actually are. One study found that men routinely overestimate their IQ by five points, while women underestimate theirs by the same amount.....Let's be absolutely clear on this: The men weren't lying. They truly believed that they performed better than they actually did. They were quite confident that their performance was superior. It can be devastating, then, to be faced with a woman who is more successful--implicitly suggesting the man has failed.
