The result of a recent study conducted in Britain should be no surprise to anybody who has completed middle school - the researchers found that teenage boys are loud, more outgoing and more confident than their female counterparts.

The BBC reports that Britain's Communication Trust and National Literacy Trust conducted a study of 6,000 children between the ages of eight and 16, which revealed that boys were much more likely to self-report that they were " very confident" or "confident" speaking during class. In fact, 69 percent of boys said they were totally comfortable talking in the classroom, compared to 57 percent of girls. (Encouraging, those figures do show that more than half of the respondents of both sexes are confident in school.)

Boys also felt more confident than girls when "saying no to friends," "talking to new people," "explaining your point of view, " asking when you don't understand something," and "talking with teachers" Girls lagged behind in every category, except for two: " talking to people online" and " listening to other people's opinions." So what's the deal? Part of the problem could be social attitudes that encourage young boys to be assertive, bold and confident, while simultaneously encouraging young women to be submissive and demure. But luckily, with dozens of outspoken female role models in everything from politics to comedy to business, young ladies are quickly realizing that, as the adage goes, well-behaved women seldom make history.