Sex hormones impact career choices

[AngryAmish]

"Teacher, pilot, nurse or engineer? Sex hormones strongly influence people's interests, which affect the kinds of occupations they choose, according to psychologists.

"Our results provide strong support for hormonal influences on interest in occupations characterized by working with things versus people," said Adriene M. Beltz, graduate student in psychology, working with Sheri A. Berenbaum, professor of psychology and pediatrics, Penn State.

Berenbaum and her team looked at people's interest in occupations that exhibit sex differences in the general population and are relevant to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. The researchers studied teenagers and young adults with congenital adrenal hyperplasia -- a genetic condition -- and their siblings who do not have CAH.

People with CAH are exposed to more androgen -- a type of male sex hormone -- than is normal while in the uterus. Females with CAH are genetically female and are treated as females, but their interests tend to be more similar to stereotypically male ones."
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THis is interesting. As we learn more about the interactions of mothers and their unborn kids we find that simple genetics do not determine what a person's personality will be like. Things that are innate could be not be genetically determined but determined by the fetal environment.

WHat of this? Do we want women altering their bodies to make their kids taller, smarter, more attentive? What if same sex preference was determined by maternal environment -- would we want a "treatment" to prevent your kid from being gay?

We will have answers sooner than later.