Do we need to bother about small sex differences in cognition and behavior? Is it possible to explain these regularly recurring patterns?

Most sex differences in cognition and behavior are small, have vastly overlapping distributions, and cannot be used to differentiate between females and males. Do these sex differences have an impact on anything? And, what is the origin of them?

We aim to describe, explain, and investigate the impact of sex differences in cognition and other behaviors by addressing the following questions: (1) What is the relative contribution of prenatal androgen exposure and sex chromosomes on sex differences in cognition and behavior? (2) Is it possible to identify patterns of cognitive skills and behaviors that constitute meaningful sex typical profiles? (3) Can such sex typical profiles provide an understanding of why there are large sex differences in career choices?

New data and data from Swedish registries will be used.

This will allow us to examine the hypothesis that many small differences combined contribute to meaningful sex typical profiles and that these profiles will significantly improve the discrimination between male and females, but also help to explain sex typical career choices.

Moreover, by examining the relative contribution of prenatal hormones and sex chromosomes, we will increase our understanding of the origin of sex differences in cognition and behavior.

This research is important because it will improve our knowledge in an area that continues to engender public interest, as well as inform policymakers on factors contributing to sex segregation in life outcomes.