Abstract: Sexual selection and sex differences in social cognition. (from the chapter) Sexual selection is an advantaged theoretical perspective for studying cognitive and other sex differences, for many reasons. The ultimate (evolutionary) and proximate (here and now, such as sex hormones) mechanisms associated with sexual selection have been studied in hundreds of species and are well understood. Basically, sexual selection provides a theoretical framework for understanding human cognitive sex differences in the context of sex differences found in other species and, at the same time, allows for hormonal, developmental, and experiential influences on the expression of these differences. This chapter discusses sex differences in social cognition to illustrate the utility of the perspective of sexual selection. The basic mechanisms of sexual selection are examined, as is the evolutionary taxonomy of sociocognitive modules and an overview of sexual selection as related to sex differences in these sociocognitive competencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)