Atypical gender development Flashcards
Atypical gender development
parts
Gender identity disorder (GID) Biological explanations └Brain sex theory, Genetic factors Social-psychological explanations └Psychoanalytic theory, Cognitive explanation
Gender identity disorder (GID)
strong, persistent feelings of identification with the opposite gender and discomfort with one’s own assigned sex
└mismatch between biological sex and gender identity
Biological explanations
list
Brain sex theory
Genetic factors
Brain sex theory
people
Ning Zhou et al (1995) Frank Kruijver (2000)
Brain sex theory
└suggests GID is caused by specific brain structures that are incompatible with a person’s biological sex
└dimorphic areas (different in males and females)
└Ning Zhou et al (1995)
└studied the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis
└fully formed at age 5
└40% larger in males than females
└post-mortem studies of six male → female transgender people
└BSTc was found to be a similar size to that of a typical female brain
└Frank Kruijver (2000)
└follow up study of the same brain tissue
└focused on number of neurones in the BNTc rather than the volume
└post-mortem studies of six male → female transgender people
└BSTc was found to have similar neuron number to that of a typical female brain
Genetic factors
people
Frederick Coolidge et al (2002)
Heylens et al (2012)
Genetic factors
└Frederick Coolidge et al (2002)
└assessed 157 twin pairs (96 MZ, 61 DZ) for evidence of GID using the clinical diagnosis of criteria in DSM-4
└GID present in 2.3%
└62% of these cases accounted for by genetic variance
└=suggests strong heritable component to GID
└Heylens et al (2012)
└compared 23 MZ twins with 21 DZ twins where one of each pair was diagnosed with GID
└9 (39%) of the MZ twins were concordant for GID
└0 (0%) of the DZ twins were concordant for GID
└suggests role of genetic factors in development of GID
Social-psychological explanations
definition
based on Freudian theory and insights from cognitive psychology
Social-psychological explanations
list
Psychoanalytic theory
Cognitive explanation
Psychoanalytic theory
people
Leon Ovesey and Ethel Person (1973) Robert Stoller (1973)
Psychoanalytic theory
└Leon Ovesey and Ethel Person (1973)
└argued that GID in biological males is caused by child experiencing extreme separation anxiety before gender identity has been established
└child fantasises of a symbiotic fusion with their mother to relieve the anxiety, and the danger of separation is removed
└=child becomes the mother and adopts the female gender identity
└Robert Stoller (1973)
└interviewed GID biological males
└they had overly close relationship with their mothers
└would lead to greater female identification and atypical gender identity in the long term
Cognitive explanation
people
Lynn Liben and Rebecca Bigler (2002)
Cognitive explanation
└Lynn Liben and Rebecca Bigler (2002)
└proposed an extension of gender schema theory
└emphasises individual differences in gender identity
└dual pathway theory (two pathways in gender development)
└first pathway: acknowledges the development of gender schema which then direct gender appropriate attitudes and behaviour as a part of “normal development”
└second personal pathway: describes how the child’s attitudes are affected by activity
└interests may become more dominant than gender identity, thus influence the gender schema (results in a non sex-typed schema)
└in most people → leads to androgynous behaviour/a flexible attitude to gender
└in a minority of people → leads to GID
Atypical gender development
limitations
summary
Contradictory evidence for BSTc Twin studies are inconclusive Biological explanations oversimplify a complex concept Issues with psychoanalytic theory Issues with cognitive theory
Atypical gender development
limitations
Contradictory evidence for BSTc
└BSTc is fully formed at age 5
└any hormone treatment for transgender individuals shouldn’t effect it
└Hilleke Hulshoff Pol et al (2006)
└found transgender hormone therapy did effect the size of the BSTc
└therefore observed differences in the BSTc may be due to hormone therapy rather than being a cause of GID
└Wilson Chung et al (2002)
└claim that pre-natal hormonal influences that effect the size of the BSTc are not triggered until adulthood
└structural changes in the brain don’t occur till adulthood
└=casts doubt that dimorphic brain differences are present in early childhood
