Perceptions become reality?

There is a fascinating article on Slate about the interaction between perceptions of people's capabilities and their actual performances. A few snippets:

Correll has found that, in the presence of a stereotype that men are better, women tend to underrate their own performance, while men overrate their own, regardless of demonstrated ability.

and

Robert Rosenthal, a sociologist at UCLA, randomly assigned children to different classes, and then told half the classrooms' teachers they had gifted classes and the other half that their students were average. At the end of the year, the "gifted" students scored higher on IQ tests. In other words, if others perceive you as talented, you become more talented.

The article argues that unconscious biases against women shape perceptions of them, which in turn affect their performance and ambition.

One interesting implication: while it's important not to underestimate the effects of barriers faced by women in the sciences (because otherwise problems get ignored), it also appears to be important not to overestimate them either. If one creates the perception that barriers and bias make it overly difficult for women to succeed, and one runs the risk of making a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Encouragingly, the article suggests a few remedies. My favorite: when people are told that negative stereotypes can lead to underperformance, the effect goes away. So now you know!