Atypical gender development

Question 1

What is gender identity disorder?

Answer 1

• Characterised by strong consistent feelings of identification with the opposite gender and discomfort with ones own assigned sex.
• Many individuals with GID will identify themselves as transgender and may opt for gender reassignment surgery which changes their external genitalia to that of the desired sex.

Question 2

What are the 2 biological explanations for GID?

Answer 2

Brain sex theory

Genetics

Question 3

What is brain sex theory?

Answer 3

• Suggests that GID is caused by specific brain structures that are incompatible with a persons biological sex.
• Zhou studied the BSTc which is assumed to be fully developed at age 5 and is 40% larger in males than females.
• In post-mortem studies of 6 male to female transgender individuals, the BSTc was found to be similar size to that of a typical female brain.

Question 4

How do genetics affect GID?

Answer 4

• Coolidge assessed 157 twin paurs (96 MZ 61 DZ) for evidence of GID using clinical diagnosis of criteria in DSM-4.
• Concordance rate of 39% in MZ twins and 0% in DZ twins suggests heritability.

Question 5

What are the 2 social-psychological explanations?

Answer 5

Psychoanalytic theory

Cognitive explanation

Question 6

What is the psychoanalytic theory?

Answer 6

• Argued that GID males is caused by the child experiencing extreme separation anxiety before gender identity has been established.
• The child fantasises of a symbolic fusion with his mother to relieve the anxiety, and the danger of separation is removed.
• The consequence of this is that the child, in every real sense, becomes the mother and thus adopts a female gender identity.

Question 7

What is the cognitive explanation?

Answer 7

• Dual pathway theory.
• Gender schema directs attitudes and behaviours and the individuals personal interests may become more dominant than the gender identity.
• This, in most people, leads to androgyny but for some it may lead to GID.

Question 8

State 4 criticisms of explanations for GID (atypical gender development).

Answer 8

Contradictory evidence for BSTc:
- Pol et al. found that hormone therapy affected the size of the BSTc
Twins studies are inconclusive:
- hard to separate nature vs nurture
Biological explanations oversimplify a complex concept
Issues with psychoanalytic theory:
- doesn’t provide adequate account of GID in females as the theory only applies to male transgender individuals