Psychodynamic explanation

• Ovesey and Pearson

  • males
  • gender dysphoria is from the development of severe separation anxiety from having an absent mother
  • strong identification with the mother not the father
  • symbiotic fusion with the mother
  • relieves separation stress
  • in the unconscious, they become her
• Freud claimed that strong gender identity was from resolution of the oedipus/electra complex

  • if it was unsuccessful, they might identify with the opposite sex parent instead of the same sex parent
• Strengths

  • Supporting evidence
  • Lowry and Zucker - high incidence of separation anxiety (60%) was found in males with gender dysphoria
  • Lothstein - some females internalised their fathers is their mothers didnt have a strong sense of self
  • this evidence supports the psychodynamic explanation, showing how some individuals may identify with the opposite sex parent, suggesting why they have gender dysphoria
• Limitations

  • Lacking scientific evidence, no causal relationships found because the unconscious cannot be empirically studied - therefore it is not falsifiable
  • Androcentric - the original theory only took males into account, failing to mention females, therefore lacking in usefulness