individuals who identify much more with the opposite sex than the one they were identified with at birth.
neural explanations of Gender Dysphoria - Brain sex theory
suggests that GD is caused by specific structures that are incompatible with a person's biological sex.
the bed nucleus of the stria terminals is 40% larger in males.
in post-mortem studies, in male-to-female individuals the BSTc was found to be a similar size to that of a typical female brain
Social-psychological explanations for GD are based on Freudian theory and insights from cognitive psychology.
Psychoanalytic theory for gender dysphoria
psychologists have argued that GD in bio males is caused by the child experiencing extreme separation anxiety before gender identity can be established
child fantasises of a symbolic fusion with their mother to relieve the anxiety
the child tries to become the mother, therefore the child adopts a female gender identity
Support for the psychoanalytic theory for Gender Dysphoria
Stoller
in interviews with GD biological males, they were seen to display overly close relationships with their mothers that would lead to greater female identification and atypical gender identity in the long term
Cognitive explanation for gender dysphoria
Gender Scheme Theory
suggests that there are two pathways to gender development ( dual pathway theory )
What does the first pathway do in the Gender schema theory?
acknowledges the development of gender schema which then directs gender-appropriate attitudes and behaviour as part of 'normal development'
What is the second pathway in the Gender Schema theory?
describes how the child's gender attitudes are affected by their activity.
the individual's interests may become more dominant than the gender identity, influencing the gender schema.
this leads to the development of non-sex-typed schema leading to androgynous behaviour and a more flexible attitude to gender
in some cases, which may lead to the formation of an opposite gender identity
L - Contradictory evidence for the BSTc
claimed that the BStc is fully formed by the age of 5 and that any hormonal treatment to change one's gender won't have any effect on it has been challenged.
Pol et al, found that transgender hormone therapy did affect the size of the BSTc.
Chung et al claimed that pre-natal hormonal influences (that affect the BSTc) is not triggered until adulthood, casting doubt that dimorphic brain differences are presented in early childhood
L- Biologically reductionist
biological explanations are often criticised for their tendency to reduce complex conditions and behaviours to simpler genetic, neuroanatomical and hormonal levels.
ignoring social and psychological factors
L- issues with the psychoanalytic theory
does not provide an adequate account of GD in biological females as the theory only applies to trans women.
other psychologists suggest that gender dysphoria in cis males is more likely to be associated with an absent father.
the assumption that SA causes GD is very difficult to test. as the fantasies are thought to be unconscious