Atypical gender devel Flashcards
Outline what gender dysphoria is .
.Gender Dysphoria is when an individual experiences a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity, which causes conflict and unpleasant feelings
How is Gender Identity disorder (GID), now known as Gender Dysphoria classified as
and how do they describe it
Gender Dysphoria i classified as a psychological disorder where they feel trapped in the wrong body
Name the prevalence of GID
which gender
how many
what treatment
More males than females are affected, estimated 1 in every 4,000 and they receive medical treatment such as hormone therapy
name two of the 4 clinical characteristics that the DSM have put which diagnoses an indiv
- A strong sense of discomfort with their own biological sex
- No biological disorder should occur at the same time as GID
- Their ability to function (adequately) in everyday will be affected
- Must experience ongoing identification with the opposite sex
How is this disorder different to another atypical disorder such as Klinefeleter’s
GID is not a biological disorder like Klinefelters where individuals have a genetic disorder due to abnormal sex chromosomes
Name the two explanations for GD
- Biological explanations for Gender Dysphoria
- Social explanations for Gender Dysphoria
There are 2 suggested research theories in the biological explanations for GID
What does the Biological expl believe
outline and explain both
Biological explanations suggest that Gender dysphoria is due to physiologically determined
- Brain Sex Theory suggests that the dysphoria is caused by specific structures in the brain that are incompatible with their biological sex.
RS- Zhou 1995- found the Bed nucleus of the Stria Terminalis central division (BSTc)- found males have larger BSTc than females, so males indiv who are transgender have found to have the same size BSTc than females
-Therefore, shown correlation between size and then indiv’s identifying as transgender - Research using Twin studies to show heritability of the condition- suggesting there’s a genetic basis to GID
eg. Heylens et al 2012- found that 9/23 MZ twins had concordance for GID, compared to 0/21 for DZ twins
-Showing that there is genetic factors influencing the development of GID
There’s two suggested theories in the social explanations of GID
name both then
outline and explain findings of the first one
social explanations is split into
1. psychological expl
2. cognitive expl
Psychological explanations for Gender Dysphoria - suggested the condition is learned by socialisation processes
e.g. Ovesey and person 1973- Freudian theory= males GID is caused by the child experiencing extreme separation anxiety before gender identity develops- boy has fantasies of a symbolic fusion with mother, that relieves the anxiety–> resulting in boy becoming his mother and adopts her female identity
There’s two suggested theories in the social explanations of GID
name both then
outline and explain findings of the second one
Cognitive explanations for GID- suggests it is
due to the Gender Schema Theory (GST) - believes that counter-stereotypical activities create androgynous schema’s
e.g. Liben and Bigler 2002- extended GST
1st pathway-normal schemas learnt through direct gender approp behaviour -for normal devel
2nd is a ‘personal’ pathway- where personal interests become more dominant and influences the child’s gender schema
AO3- For evaluating both biological and social explanations of gender dysphoria
name the 4 points that should trigger ur knowledge of what to say in each peel
- socially sensitive research
- research support using twin studies reinforces the na vs nu debate
- methodological flaws research only on male-female transgender and not females to mle
- culturally bias research
