Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
GENDER- Atypical gender development - Coggle Diagram
GENDER- Atypical gender development
atypical gender development
cisgender= gender identity matched biological sex
atypical gender is people who dont follow the male-masc/ female/fem binary. these people are
gender diverse
transgender=
gender identity doesnt match birth sex
non-binary-
gender identity is a blend of male and female
gender fluid-
individual moves between gender identitites
agender=
individual doesnt identify with any gender
gender-dysphoria=
there is a mismatch between birth sex based on biological sexual characteristics and psychological gender identity. these people experience psychological distress- feeling theyre "trapped in the wrong body". This is a mental health condition. not all gender diverse people have gender dysphoria
biological explanations for gender dysphoria
mismatch of sex and gender is due to biological factors like brain structure, genes and hormones
"brain sex theory" suggests there are brain regions implicated in gender dysphoria. for example, male to female transgender indiiduals say thr hypothalamic area is more like females which is argued to result in a feminisation of beheviour.
genetic explanations= people with gender dysphoria have variations to genes that are responsible for andrigen reception. these changes redyuce the effect testosterone has on the brain and body resulting in feminisation.
hormonal explanations= unusual levels of andrigen hormone (testosterone) exposure in the womb influences the development of fetus. could be both because of over-exposure in female foetuses and under exposure in biologically male foetuses resulting in atypical gender development.
research evaluations
POSITIVE- childhood gender identity was collected from over 8k twin pairs (MZ and DZ) as part of a longitudinal twin study in the netherlands.MZ twins are more likely to both show atypical gender development but in MZ twins it was more likely that just 1 twin would have atypical gender development. data reveales that 70% of the variance in gender identity was due to genetic factors which suggests that atypical gender development is heritable. girls with female co-twins were more likely to show cross-gendered behaviour than girls with male co-twins, counter to whatb we would expect in SLT- further suggesting atypical gender development is a biological and not psychological process
POSITIVE- post mortem analysis was done of the anterior hypothalamus on 42 subjects. found that the volume and number of neurones in M to F transgenders is more similar to F controls then M controls. suggests that the area of the anterior hypothalamus is implicated in gender identity and gender dysphoria as a result of sexual differentiation of the brain
POSITIVE- genomes sequences of 13 transgender individuals and compared them to 88 controls. 21 gene variations were associated with oestrogen reception in areas of the brain shown to become sexually dimorphic before birth. this suggests that sex hormone exposure before birth results in sexually dimorphoc brain development contributing to gender dysphoria
psychological explanations for gender dysphoria
behaviourists=
believed that if someone was rewarded for cross-gendered behaviour then they would develop gender dysphoria
social learning theorists=
agrees with behaviourists but also think that that gender dysphoria can be learned vicariously through the observation of non gender conforming role models like celebrities, as well as lack of stereotypically m/f role models.
cognitive/ gender schema theory=
dual pathway theory suggests that in addition to normal development of sex typed gender schema (attitudinal pathway) that people can develop non sex-typed schema (personal pathway) from experiences and developing interests, like girls enjoying DIY with dad. this second set of schema can override original schema which can lead to gender dysphoria or androgyny.
psychodynamic=
child didnt successfully resolve the O/E complex. not identifying with the same sex parent so not internalising their gender identity. this is due to the absence of same sex parent or maladaptive relationship with opposite sex parent.
research eveluations for psychological explanations of gender dysphoria
POSITIVE- 25 girls aged 3-12 were assessed as having gender dysphoria. when they were followed up at ages between 15-36 only 12% still were gender dysphoric. this suggests that gender identity in children isnt innate and fixed as suggested by biological arguments, but gender identity formation can be influenced byy social psychological factoprs experienced in childhood and perhaps social learning and behavoural factors.
mothers of over 100 m to F trans children were interviewed assessing the levels of separation anxiety. it was found that the children who matched more criteria for gender dysphoria were more likely to have experienced separation anxiety disorder which suggests that the development of an atypical gender identity is associated with early interactional relationship between mothers and sons.
general evaluations of the psychological explanations of gender dysphoria
NEGATIVE- lots of people with gender dysphoria want to believe there is a biologically deterministic reason for their condition. if evidence is provided that there is a psychological reason then this could cause distress and could lead to stigma and discrimination
NEGATIVE- interactionalist approach may be less reductionist and therefore more valid than a simply biological approach. gender identity could be a multifactoral process with biological factors creating a pre-disposition towards atypical gender development in an early childhood critical period which is then expressed in adulthood dependent on social factors like schema development and old social learning processes.