Atypical gender development - AO1

Question 1

What is gender dysphoria?

Answer 1

Mistmatch between biological sex and the gender they feel that they are

Question 2

What is the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis involved in?

Answer 2

Emotional responses
This area is larger in men than women and found to be female sized in transgender females (Kruijer et al 2000)

Question 3

What does brain sex theory suggest?

Answer 3

People with gender dysphoria have a BST which is the size of the gender they identify with and not the size of their biological sex.

Question 4

What did Zhou et al (1995) suggest?

Answer 4

The difference in the BST fits with the report that trans people feel from an early age they were the wrong sex

Question 5

What did Kruijver et al (2000) follow up study find?

Answer 5

6 trans people showed an average BST neuron number in the female range

Question 6

What did Coolidge et al (2002) find?

Answer 6

Assessed 157 twin pairs (96 MZ and 61 DZ)
62% of variance could be accounted for by genetic factors - strong heritable component to gender dysphoria

Question 7

What did Haydens et al (2002) do?

Answer 7

Compared 23 MZ twins with 21 DZ twins, each pair diagnosed with gender dysphoria

• 39% of the MZ twins were concordant for gender dysphoria comapared to DZ
• Indicates role of genetic factors

Question 8

What is social contructionism?

Answer 8

Argues gender does not reflect underlying biological differences between people
From this perspective, gender dysphoria is not a pathological conditions but a social phenomenon which arises when people are required to choose one of two particular paths

Question 9

What did McClintock (2015) do?

Answer 9

Individuals with genetic condition in Sambia of New Guinea (biological males)

• Birth = labia and clitoris - catagorised as girls
• Puberty = large increase in testosterone - genitals change
• Common among the sambia and they are accepted as another gender
• Culture has come into contact with others, they are judged as having a pathological form of gender dysphoria

Question 10

What did Overson and Person (1973) suggest?

Answer 10

Social relationships in family - gender dysphoria
Extreme separation in biological males before gender identity has been established

• Fantasies of symbiostic fusion with mother and danger of separation id removed
• Adapts a women’s gender identity

Question 11

What did Stoller (1973) do?

Answer 11

Interviwes GD biological males, displayed overly close relationships with their mothers suggesting stronger female identification adn thus conflicted gender identity in the long term