biological explanations of atypical gender development: Gender Dysphoria Flashcards
define gender dysphoria
when a person experience discomfort or distress because there is a mismatch between their sex identified at birth and there gender identity
this is also a clinical diagnosis for someone who doesn’t feel comfortable with the sex they were assigned with at birth
give the 2 biological explanations of atypical gender development: Gender Dysphoria
brain sex theory
genetic factors
define dimorphism
having 2 forms of the same structure in this case male and female sizes
what does brain sex theory state gender dysphoria is caused by
the BST in the brain
what does BST stand for
Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis
what does the BST do and what species in
in male rats the BST is involved in emotional responses and sexual behaviours
what is the difference between male and female BST
men have a larger BST than women
What did Krujjuver in 2000 find out about BST
the BST in transgender females is smaller (female sized)
what is the conclusion about BST size and gender dysphoria
people with gender dysphoria have a BST which is the size of the sex they wish to identify with, not their biological sex size
what did Coolidge (2000) find in their research
assessed 157 twin pairs ( 96 were monozygotic, 61 were dizygotic)
62% of the variance in gender dysphoria could be accounted for by genetic factors, this suggests there is a strong genetic component.
what did Helylens (2012) find in her research into twins and gender dysphoria
Heylens compared 23 MZ and 21 DZ twins where one of each pair was diagnosed with gender dysphoria. 39% of MZ twins were concordant for gender dysphoria compared to non of the DZ
this implies a strong genetic component
