Chapter 16 is an overview of theory and research at the interface of personality, sex, and gender. The authors begin with a brief review of the science and politics of studying sex and gender. In this section, the authors review the history of research on sex differences.

Next, the authors discuss recent statistical developments such as meta-analysis and the calculation of effect sizes, which allow for more objective assessment of sex differences. The authors next distinguish minimalists, who downplay sex differences, from maximalists, who argue that sex differences are real and have important social consequences. The authors then review work on sex differences in personality, organizing the presentation according to the "Big Five." The authors then review work on sex differences in other personality dimensions, including self-esteem, sexuality, and the people-things dimension of vocational interests.

Next, the authors review historical and modern research and theory on masculinity, femininity, androgyny, and sex roles. In this section, they review the history of work on androgyny, and the eventual replacement of this concept with the dimensions of instrumentality versus expressiveness and with the cognitive notion of gender schema. The authors then review work on gender stereotypes. Finally, the authors present several major theories of sex differences, including those that highlight the causal role of socialization, hormones, and evolution.