atypical gender development Flashcards
what else can atypical gender development be called?
gender dysphoria
what is gender dysphoria, according to the DSM?
when individuals experience a mismatch between their biological sex and the sex they ‘feel’
is gender nonconformity a mental disorder?
gender nonconformity is not in itself a mental disorder, the important part of gender dysphoria is the presence of clinically significant distress associated with the condition
how many people experience gender dysphoria?
-it’s not known exactly how many people experience gender dysphoria, because many people with the condition never seek help
-a survey of 10,000 people undertaken in 2012 by the equality and human rights commission found that 1% of the population surveyed was gender variant, to some extent
why may the number of people being diagnosed with gender dysphoria be increasing?
due to growing public awareness
what may be early indications of gender dysphoria?
children being unhappy wearing clothes of their biological gender/games etc.
what may many people with gender dysphoria identify themselves as?
transgender → they may opt for gender reassignment surgery to change their external genitalia to that of the desired sex
criteria for DSM diagnosis of dysphoria?
-experience will affect ability to
function in everyday life
-no biological disorder should
occur at the same time
-feel a strong sense of discomfort with their own biological sex
-must experience ongoing
identification with the opposite sex
what are the different explanations of gender dysphoria?
biological explanations:
-genetics
-hormones
-brain sex theory
social explanations:
-psychodynamic
-cognitive
-social
how do biologists explain gender dysphoria?
they argue that gender dysphoria is a physiological condition caused by a prenatal abnormality in genetics,
hormones or the brain
genetic explanation of gender dysphoria:
-gene variants that are inherited from our parents can be used to
explain gender dysphoria
-if the genetic information for gender development deviates from
the expected development path, this can result in physical and
psychological abnormalities
what is a specific example of a genetic explanation of gender dysphoria?
-research suggests that a common gene variant found in male to female transgendered individuals is a longer than usual androgen receptor gene
-this would cause biological males to be unresponsive to testosterone during development, resulting in the absence of masculinised features
evidence for a genetic basis to gender dysphoria:
Heylens et al (2012)
-compared 23 MZ twins with 21 DZ twins (one of each pair was diagnosed with GID)
-they found that 39% of the MZ twins were concordant for gender
dysphoria compared to none of the DZs
↳ indicates a role for genetic factors in the development of GID (there is a heritable component to GID)
what does the hormonal explanation of gender dysphoria state?
-exposure to prenatal hormones determines the masculinisation or
feminisation of the foetus
-testosterone is produced if the Y
chromosome is detected, and oestrogen continues to be produced if not
↳ over/underexposure to the appropriate hormones can
create abnormalities in development and contribute to gender dysphoria
what is a specific example of a hormonal explanation of gender dysphoria?
-female foetus exposed to too much testosterone in the womb (can be caused by medication being taken by the mother, or even sharing the womb with a male twin)
-this foetus would be born with masculinised physical features
(body type, muscular development, an enlarged clitoris that could be mistaken for a small penis)
↳ a biological female may have a psychological gender identity that contrasts with her physiological identity, resulting in gender dysphoria
what is the brain sex theory of gender dysphoria?
-in the hypothalamus, there’s an area of the brain that is believed to be responsible for psychological gender identity
-the SDN is different in size for men and women, particularly the BSTc
how much larger is the BSTc in women than men?
the male region is 2.5 times larger than in females, contains twice as many neurons and is believed to be affected by the levels of testosterone in the body
research into the BSTc:
(ao3 supporting biological explanation)
-zhou (1995) studied the BSTc which is assumed to be fully developed at age 5 and around 40% larger in males than females
-post-mortems conducted on transgender individual have showed abnormalities in the brain
-male to female transgender (had received feminising hormones) individuals presenting with a female sized BSTc rather than males, and fewer neurons in the BSTc than expected in males
↳ these findings suggest that gender dysphoria may be rooted in the physiology of the brain
strengths of biological explanations of gender dysphoria:
-one strength of the role of genetics in gender dysphoria is that it is supported by research (hare et al)
-supporting evidence for brain sex theory from swaab
[EXTRA - there is supporting evidence for the hormone explanation from Young)
ao3 / strength - one strength of the role of genetics in gender dysphoria is that it is supported by research (hare et al)
P - one strength of the role of genetics in gender dysphoria is that it is supported by research (hare et al)
E - hare et al. (2009) investigated 112 MTF transgender individuals and discovered genetic variations where androgen receptors were insensitive and/or unresponsive in males with
gender dysphoria
↳ they found that this genetic abnormality was evident more often in male to female transgender individuals than in non-transgender
males
L - this supports the role of genetics in the development of gender
dysphoria and strengthens the argument that atypical gender
development is a biological issue, rather than a psychological one
ao3 / strength - supporting evidence for brain sex theory from swaab
P - supporting evidence for brain sex theory from swaab
E -swaab (2008) found that the size of the SDN area in transgender
individuals was the same size as the gender they identified with,
rather than their biological sex
↳ males who had transitioned to female had an small, female-sized SDN that was as, females who had transitioned to male had a larger, male-sized SDN
L - this suggests that this was the reason for the gender dysphoria and that the condition is biological in origin
criticisms of biological explanations of gender dysphoria:
there may only be a bidirectional relationship between brain and
the gender dysphoria
ao3 / criticism - there may only be a bidirectional relationship between the brain and the gender dysphoria
P - there may only be a bidirectional relationship between the brain and
the gender dysphoria, with the size of the SDN being the result of the
disorder or treatment of the disorder, rather than the cause
E - whilst it’s possible that the size of the SDN can influence the gender identity of an individual, it is also possible that hormone treatment for gender dysphoria can decrease/increase the size of the SDN
↳ in addition, a researcher found that size abnormalities in the BSTc did not happen until later in adulthood, much later than symptoms of dysphoria were
experienced
L - This suggests that the brain may not be the cause of atypical gender
development but may be the result of having the condition, meaning that any conclusions drawn from post-mortems about the SDN are not able to establish cause and effect
what do psychological theories of gender dysphoria state?
they focus on…
→ cognitive influences such as schema development
→ psychodynamic drives such as attachmen
→ social psychological theories such as parental reinforcement
as ways to explain why gender dysphoria occurs
how are gender schemas typically?
cognitive theories suggest that gender schemas adopted by
children to develop their gender identity should be dominated by
in-group schemas (schemas and rules about their own gender)
what has happened to the schema to cause gender dysphoria?
-gender dysphoria occurs as a result of dual schema pathways
-the child develops an understanding of in and out-group schemas and shows a preference for roles and behaviours of the out-group
what is the out-group?
schemas and rules about the opposite gender
example of the cognitive explanation of gender dysphoria:
a little girl may prefer the toys, games and clothes that she sees her out-group engaging in and choose to adopt them and reject her in-group
what goes the psychodynamic explanation of gender dysphoria suggest?
that gender dysphoria is the result of attachment difficulties before gender identity has developed, notably separation anxiety
key explanation of the psychodynamic theory of gender dysphoria:
-children who experience extreme separation anxiety ‘symbiotically fuse’ their identity with the parent that they are separated from
-the intense emotions are overcome with coping strategies wherein the child adopts their absent parents roles and behaviours
example of a psychodynamic explanation of gender dysphoria:
a boy who experiences separation anxiety through the bereavement of his mother will use coping strategies to deal with the intense emotion → these coping strategies include fantasising about his mother and adopting her roles and behaviours (symbiotic fusion)
↳ the boy will identify with his mother, leading to a female gender identity rather than a male’s
behaviourist explanation of gender dysphoria (overview)
claim that gender dysphoria is a learned behaviour and the result of being reinforced for cross-gendered
behaviours
which behaviours are usually reinforced and punished?
parents and peers positively reinforce appropriate gender behaviours and punish cross-gendered behaviours
↳ this results in stereotypical gender identity for boys and girls
how does reinforcement and punishment occur in people with gender dysphoria?
children have been positively reinforced for behaviours that are more typical of the opposite sex
↳ for example, if parents desired to have a boy but instead had a
baby girl, they may positively reinforce stereotypical male
behaviours either consciously or unconsciously
criticism of the cognitive explanation of gender dysphoria:
the cognitive theory of gender dysphoria is that it lacks scientific credibility due to its reliance on schemas
ao3 / criticism - the cognitive theory of gender dysphoria is that it lacks scientific credibility due to its reliance on schemas
P - the cognitive theory of gender dysphoria is that it lacks scientific credibility due to its reliance on schemas
E - schemas are an internal mental process and trying to operationalise them in experiments has proven difficult, this has made it hard to conduct accurate empirical research to support the theory
↳ furthermore, this has made it hard to falsify schemas
↳ the theory can’t explain why schemas develop in the first place, focusing only on how children use them to develop their gender
L - these limitations mean that the cognitive theory of gender dysphoria is flawed, and an uscientific approach to explaining the condition
strength of the psychodynamic explanation of gender dysphoria:
psychodynamic theories of gender dysphoria are supported by research (Di Ceglie - 2002)
ao3 / strength - psychodynamic theories of gender dysphoria are supported by research (Di Ceglie - 2002)
P - psychodynamic theories of gender dysphoria are supported by
research (Di Ceglie - 2002)
E - Di Ceglie (2002) investigated the case of James, who lived with
his grandmother while his mum worked away / when his grandmother died, he experienced severe separation anxiety, leading him to fantasise about his grandmother → as part of this coping mechanism, he adopted female behaviours, engaged in
stereotypically female activities and spoke of his future as if he were
female
↳ after James participated in psychoanalysis treatment to help with his grief, his symptoms of gender dysphoria stopped
L - this supports the psychodynamic proposal of symbiotic fusion and of
gender dysphoria being the result of unconscious coping mechanisms
criticism of the psychodynamic explanation of gender dysphoria:
although the Di Ceglie case study provides support for the psychodynamic theory of gender dysphoria, it’s important to acknowledge that symbiotic fusion is merely a concept and is therefore untestable
ao3 / criticism - although the Di Ceglie case study provides support for the psychodynamic theory of gender dysphoria, it’s important to acknowledge that symbiotic fusion is merely a concept and is therefore untestable
P - although the Di Ceglie case study provides support for the psychodynamic theory of gender dysphoria, it’s important to acknowledge that symbiotic fusion is merely a concept and is therefore untestable → this reduces the scientific credibility of the study and theory
E - However, the psychodynamic theory proposal of separation being the root cause of gender dysphoria was later also refuted by Rekers (1986) who found separation from parents to be a common denominator in gender dysphoria.
36 male to female transgender individuals were studied, and it was found that 75% had an absent father. When repeated with another 70 male to female transgender individuals in 1995, this same pattern in absent parents was found.
L - These results provide research support for the psychodynamic theory of gender dysphoria and are more credible than the case study of James.
criticisms of the social explanation of gender dysphoria:
P - one criticism of social psychological theories is that they fail to explain anomalies
E - there are many children who are positively reinforced for appropriate
gender behaviours and for playing with gender appropriate toys, who still prefer to adopt cross-gendered roles / if positive reinforcement was the sole factor for gender dysphoria, then social theory fails to explain why some children are unresponsive to it
↳ also( some children aren’t deterred by punishment that follows
cross-gendered behaviours (for example, if a little boy is ridiculed or
punished for playing with makeup, he may still engage with this behaviour)
L - this would suggest that gender dysphoria is not a learned behaviour and is the result of other influences such as cognitions or biology
