Sheri A. Berenbaum, Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University

The study of psychological sex differences has a long and checkered history, and has been more politically charged than most other aspects of psychological science. This is illustrated in the recent controversies about the underrepresentation of women in science, math, and engineering professions. The study of psychological sex differences is thus “imbued” with more nonscientific issues than are most other aspects of psychological science. This includes questioning of the value of the research topic itself, guidelines for conducting and publishing research on the topic, and special criteria for evaluating the importance of research findings. These concerns relate to the meaning and potential (mis)use of findings of psychological sex differences. I will discuss these issues in the context of sex differences in cognitive abilities, and their implications for career choices.