4.9. Atypical Gender Development Flashcards
What is gender dysphoria?
- feel strong sense of discomfort within their own biological sex
- no biological disorder should occur at the same time
- must experience ongoing identification with the opposite sex
- experience will affect ability to function in everyday life
What is dysphoria caused by?
- specific brain structures that are incompatible with a person’s sex
- dimorphism (area that takes a different form in males/females) brain structures cause GID
What did Zhou study?
- Zhou studied the bed nucleus of the atria terminalis which is assumed to be fully developed at age 5, found this is 40% larger in males than females
What did post mortems show?
Showed that in 6 transgenders, the BSTC is a similar size to female brains
What did twin studies show?
- Heylans: 39% of Mz twins concordant for GID compared to 0% dz twins where one of each pair was diagnosed with GID = genetic factors must be involved
- deterministic as causing mismatch that people feel which is caused by a different in brain structure or genetics -> no free will
What do foetal development hormones show?
- Either over or under exposure to androgens in womb -> females to males = high
- Masculinisation or feminisation
What is the psychoanalytical theory?
- boys experience extreme separation anxiety from mum, identify with mum
- fantasies of symbolic fusion with mother (identify with mother) -> male to female trans only
- Stoller: conducted clinical interviews and observed those with dysphoria, they had overly close mother-son relationships -> may lead to over identification with females
What is the cognitive explanation?
Dual pathway theory:
- 1st pathway: development of gender schema which then direct gender -> appropriate attitudes and behaviour as part of normal development
- 2nd pathway: children’s personal interests become more dominant and this influences gender schema
- most people, leads to androgynous behaviour and more flexible attitudes to gender
- small minority of others, may lead to eventual formation of opposite gender identity
Weakness: biological: brain sex theory
- Chung: diffs in BSTc of males and females don’t develop until adulthood but individuals with GID report feelings beginning in childhood
- Suggests diffs aren’t cause, but effect
- Hulshoff: transgender hormone therapy affect BTSc which means diffs in transgender brains may be due to therapy rather than cause of HID
Weakness: biological: twin studies
- Low concordance rate for GID (hard to separate environment from biological)
- Small sample sizes -> generalisability problems
- Rely on twin studies for genetic support but weak
Weakness: biological: reductionist
- Reduces GID to genetic neuro-anatomical and hormonal level
- Complete understanding requires nurture explanations
Strength: social psychological: Zucker
- Studied boys concerned about their gender identity
- Out of boys diagnosed with GID, 64% were also diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder
- 38% of sub clinical group were diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder
- Suggests a disordered attachment to mothers is a factor in development of GID
Weakness: social psychological: Rekers
- Gender disturbance is likely to be associated with the absence of the father than fear of separation from the mother
- However, it’s hard to test -> no empirical research, unconscious cannot be proven
Weakness: social psychological: Liben and Biglers:
- Theory described GID, doesn’t explain now someone becomes interested in activities that aren’t consistent with own sex
- Doesn’t explain how activities lead to development of non-sex typed schemas
- Other theories have more explanatory power
