Topic 5 (gender identity and sexual interest)

Question 1

what does ruble et al argue about the age we become aware of gender

Answer 1

we usually become aware of gender at around the ages of 3-5

Question 2

what are 3 different ways to describe sex?

Answer 2

chromosomal sex

natal/developmental sex (assigned at birth)

male, female or intersex

Question 3

what is the prevalence rate of transgenderism?

Answer 3

between 0.5 and 1%

Question 4

what may transgender people be diagnosed with?

Answer 4

DSM 5- gender dysphoria

ICD11 - gender incongruence in adolescence or adulthood

Question 5

what can twin studies show us?

Answer 5

• can show heritability of traits

- can provide insight into shared vs non shared environmental factors

Question 6

what can genome wide association studies tell us?

Answer 6

• how many genes can interact to affect gender identity (polygenic effects)

Question 7

what was polderman et al (2018) study on the heritability of gender identity?

Answer 7

• the proportion of phenotypic variation in gender identity that comes from genetic influences is roughly 11-70%
• this proportion is higher in children than in adults

Question 8

what was turban et al (2018) study on

Answer 8

• transgender adults show more similar brain structures and more similar electrical activity to the gender they identify as rather than the gender they were assigned at birth

Question 9

what was Turban et al’s animal studies about prenatal hormones

Answer 9

• there is some evidence that individuals with gender nonconformity or transgenderism were exposed to high levels of testosterone in the womb and have complete androgen insensitivity syndrome

Question 10

what is the female birth order effect in relation to transgenderism?

Answer 10

• more older brothers is related to an increased incidence of identifying as a transgender woman
• this is thought to be because of the womb being increasingly immunised to male specific androgens after successive male births

Question 11

what was Zucker and Bradleys 1995 study on the psychosocial influence on GID?

Answer 11

• children are more likely to adopt gender nonconforming behaviours if the parental response to those behaviours is not negative

Question 12

what did early theorists believe about the causes of gender identity disorder?

Answer 12

• harsh parenting and absent fathers or overbearing mothers led to gender identity disorder
• there is no modern evidence for this

Question 13

how are activity levels related to gender dysphoria?

Answer 13

higher activity levels in AFABs and lower activity levels in AMABs are associated with gender dysphoria

Question 14

which cultures have recognised nonbinary genders?

Answer 14

Fa’afafine in polynesia/samoa

Hijra in South Asia/ india

Question 15

which study suggests that there is little evidence that culture significantly impacts gender identity development

Answer 15

polderman et al 2018

Question 16

what study has found that the definition of sex is heavily defined by your sexual orientation

Answer 16

sewell et al 2016

Question 17

what are two things that sexual interests are broken up into?

Answer 17

sexual fantasies

sexual behaviours

Question 18

what should the incidence rate be for unusal and rare (joyal et al 2015)

Answer 18

unusual = less than 15.9%
rare = less than 2.3%

Question 19

what is the difference between normaphilic and paraphilic sexual behavours?

Answer 19

normaphillic = “genital stimulation or preporatory fondling with phenotypically normal, physically mature, consenting human partners” - APA

paraphillic = anything else

Question 20

what is the difference between paraphilic and atypical?

Answer 20

paraphilic refers to content

atypical refers to prevalence

Question 21

how does a behvaiour go from paraphilic interests to paraphilia to paraphilic disorders?

Answer 21

to change from paraphilic to paraphilia the arousal one experiences must be greater than the arousal experienced by normophilic interests

for this to change to a paraphilic disorder it must cause distress or impairment to the individual or harm or risk of harm to others

Question 22

what are the 9 paraphilic disorders according to the dsm5?

Answer 22

exhibitionistic
vouyeristic
pedophilic
frotteuristic
sexual masochism
sexual sadism
transvestic
fetishistic
unspecified

Question 23

what are the 8 paraphilic disorders according to the ICD11

Answer 23

exhibitionistic
voyeristic
pedophilic
frotteristic
coercive sexual sadism
other paraphilic disorder involving non consenting individuals
paraphilic disorder involving solitary behaviour or consenting individuals
unspecified paraphilic disorder