4.3.3 Gender Flashcards by r b

sex

describes the biological structure of being male or female
they have different sex organs, hormones (testosterone and oestrogen) and chromosomes (males have XY whilst females have XX sex chromosomes)

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gender

a social construct which allows each individual to psychologically identify themselves as masculine and/or feminine
it’s more to do with behavioural characteristics
is subjective / fluid

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gender identity disorder

discomfort with one’s own assigned sex and strong feelings of identification with the opposite sex

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sex-role stereotypes

widely held beliefs about expected or appropriate ways that males and females should behave
learnt from birth as children are exposed to attitudes from people in their society who tell them things such as ‘boys don’t cry’

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sex-role stereotypes - Seavey et al. (1975)

he conducted a study to see if the gender label attached to a baby affected adult responses
participants were asked to interact with a 3-month old after the child was introduced as either male, female, or just a baby (i.e. no sex given) to the different groups
they found that participant’s behaviour towards the child differed depending on what information they were given
e.g. sex-stereotyped toys were used, i.e. when the child was labelled a girl, most adults chose to play with a doll

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sex role stereotypes - strengths

some stereotypes may be valid, e.g. males being more aggressive than females is likely to reflect a valid biological difference between the sexes

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sex role stereotypes - limitations

tend to be narrow, inflexible, and overgeneralised
they may have harmful effects on society, e.g. males may avoid fields such as nursing due to the sex-role stereotypes around it
the majority of these stereotypes have no biological link

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androgyny

when someone displays a balance of both masculine and feminine characteristics

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The Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI)

developed by Sandra Bem (1974)
measures a person’s masculine and feminine traits
it was developed by asking 100 American students (50 male, 50 female) to rate 200 traits for how desirable they were for males and females
it’s a self report method that asked participants to rate themselves on a scale of 1-7 for 60 characteristics (20 typically male, 20 typically female, and 20 neutral)
the scores could be; masculine (high masculine, low feminine), feminine (high feminine, low masculine), androgynous (high masculine and feminine) or undifferentiated (low masculine and feminine)
Bem found that more people were androgynous than at the extremes of very high or very low masculine / feminine traits

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BSRI - strengths

Bem found that androgynous people were more psychologically healthy, as they’re more comfortable with who they are and they don’t suppress themselves to fit in with sex-role stereotypes
quantitative data, which is easier to analyse and draw comparisons from
has good retest reliability as it was tested on over 1000 students and similar results were produced when repeated with the same sample a few weeks later

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BSRI - limitations

questions of cultural and temporal validity as the BSRI was based on the views of Americans in the 1970s, and their notion of ‘maleness & femaleness’ may not be shared across all times, cultures & societies
as it’s a self-report measure, people will have different subjective interpretations of the items on the checklist, which may reduce the validity of the BSRI

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the role of chromosomes in sex and gender

there are 46 chromosomes in 23 pairs in the human body
the 23rd pair determines a person’s biological sex as it can be an XX (female) or XY (male) chromosome pair
a baby’s sex is determined by the sperm that fertilises the egg, as sperm cells contain half X and half Y chromosomes
the genes in the Y chromosome are responsible for male development, i.e. the formation of testes and production of androgens (male sex hormones), including testosterone

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the role of hormones in sex and gender

most gender development is influenced by hormones (chemicals circulated in the blood that control activity of different cells)
in the womb, hormones affect brain development and cause the development of either male or female genitals
at puberty, hormone levels increase, causing the development of secondary sex characteristics, e.g. breast development in women and growth of facial hair in men
males and females produce many of the same hormones but in different concentrations

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testosterone

the primary male sex hormone, produced in the testes
during womb development, genes in the Y chromosome cause testes, and at around 8 weeks of foetal development, testosterone production begins
this causes physical changes, e.g. development of male sex organs, and psychological changes as prenatal testosterone causes masculinisation of the brain, e.g. men tend to have greater spatial reasoning than women
after birth, it’s associated with stereotypical male behaviours such as aggression, e.g. Albert et al. (1989) found that injecting female rats with testosterone made them act more aggressively
there’s a small amount in female ovaries, but men tend to have around 10x as much testosterone as women

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oestrogen

the primary female hormone, mostly made in the ovaries
in the womb, having an X chromosome means ovaries form, resulting in higher oestrogen and lower testosterone levels
this can impact brain development as some studies have found that women generally have greater verbal fluency than men
it’s associated with stereotypical female behaviours, e.g. compassion and sensitivity
after puberty, it regulates the menstrual cycle in women
hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle can cause women to experience heightened emotions, irritability, etc. (pre-menstrual syndrome - PMS)
there’s also a small amount in males, but females have much more than they do

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oxytocin

a hormone which causes contraction of the uterus during labour and stimulates lactation
levels are typically higher in women, particularly as a result of giving birth
it also helps form an emotional bond between mother and baby
can be called the ‘love hormone’ as it’s associated with bonding, nurturing, trust, etc.
as men produce less, it’s fuelled the stereotype of men being less loving than women, but evidence suggests that similar amounts of it are produced in men and women when engaging in amorous activities, however, it falls immediately in males after orgasm, which may explain why they’re less interested in intimacy after sex

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the role of chromosomes and hormones - strengths

male and female brains are very different
masculinisation of the brain (exposure of testosterone) is thought to be responsible for gender differences, e.g. women can typically empathise better than men but are less good at spatial navigation
Young et al. (1964) showed that female monkeys exposed to male hormones during prenatal development typically engaged in more rough play
Dabbs et al.(1995) found that prisoners with higher testosterone levels were more likely to have committed violent crimes

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the role of chromosomes and hormones - limitations

there’s conflicting evidence, e.g. Tricker et al. (1996) did a double blind trial where he randomly assigned 43 men to receive either testosterone or a placebo, but he found no differences in aggression between the 2 groups
other factors such as cognitive factors and social learning seem to play a role as well
may reinforce harmful stereotypes, e.g. if males tend to have an advantage in spatial reasoning, society may discriminate against women entering fields that require this, e.g. engineering
much of the evidence for the role of hormones in gender development comes from animal studies, so may not apply to humans
file draw problem (publication bias) as work which demonstrates positive findings is more likely to be published

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atypical sex chromosome patterns

when a person has a 23rd chromosome pair that is something other than the typical XX pattern for females or XY pattern for males, causing differences in development compared to those with typical patterns

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Klinefelter’s syndrome

also known as 47, XXY
when a male is born with XXY chromosomes
affects roughly 1 in 750 males
physical characteristics include less body hair, increased breast tissue, weaker muscles, long limbs, and sterility (poorly functioning genitals)
psychological characteristics include a low libido (sexual desire), poor language skills and reading ability, shyness, and difficulties with social interactions

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Turner’s syndrome

also known as 45, X
when a female is born with only one X chromosome and either an absent or partial second X chromosome
affects roughly 1 in 5000 females
physical characteristics include no menstrual cycle (sterility), undeveloped breasts, broad chest, narrow hips, webbed neck, and shorter height
psychological characteristics include above average reading abilities, below average mathematics abilities, social immaturity, and issues with relating to their peers and fitting in

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atypical sex chromosome patterns - strengths

by comparing those with atypical patterns to those without, we can see psychological and behavioural differences between them and identify that these have a genetic basis and are a result of abnormal chromosome structures
increased awareness of these conditions can lead to further research and development and more positive outcomes, e.g. giving sufferers hormonal medications

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atypical sex chromosome patterns - limitations

environmental and social influences may be responsible for behaviour differences
those who look different are likely to be treated differently, e.g. social immaturity in TS patients may be due to peers treating them that way based on their underdeveloped physical features
there’s a lack of generalisability from atypical individuals to the wider population as it’s an unusual and unrepresentative sample
many psychological factors are based on ‘normal levels’, e.g. there’s an idea of a normal level of social maturity, but this may be based on stereotypes

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cognitive explanations of gender development

sees gender as a result of active changes in thought processes over time as a child grows up
it differs from social learning theory which says gender is passively observed and imitated
includes Kohlberg’s theory and gender schema theory

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Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

he viewed cognitive development as a progressive reorganisation of mental processes that occurs as a result of both biological maturation and environmental experience
provides an explanation of how a child’s logic and reasoning develop over time;
he says we use schemas (patterns of learning) to make sense of the world
when a child’s experience matches what they understand, they’re in a state of equilibrium
when they’re in an unfamiliar situation, they can’t use existing schemas so they’re in disequilibrium
to enable understanding, new info is added to a current schema (assimilation), or a new schema is developed to improve understanding (accommodation)
he believed children pass through stages of development in a sequence which is universal and not predetermined by gender or culture, but children may go through it at different paces

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Piaget’s stages of intellectual development

sensorimotor stage (0-2 years); infants learn through reflexes, children learn object permanence (objects still exists even when out of sight) at 7-8 months, e.g. they have it if they look for a toy that’s been hidden from them
pre-operational stage (2-7 years); children are unable to see situations from the perspective of others and demonstrate egocentrism - they assume others experience in the same way they do
concrete operational stage (7-11 years); children can think logically for familiar concepts, start to problem solve, often learn new logic through discovery learning, and can also conserve quantities (determine that a quantity will remain the same regardless of a change in shape or size)
formal operations (11+ years); the final stage where children can now think abstractly, problem solve and reason using hypothetical thought

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Kohlberg’s theory of gender development

based his theory on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development which argues that children’s thinking changes as they grow up
Kohlberg argues that gender development occurs alongside general intellectual developments in thinking which occurs with age
identified 3 stages through which gender development progresses; gender identity, gender stability, and gender constancy

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stage 1 - gender identity

2-3 years
children can correctly identify themselves and categorise others as male or female based on their appearances
they’re not aware that sex is permanent and they have no understanding of gender beyond simple labelling

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stage 2 - gender stability

3-4 years
the child realises their gender is stable over time
however, they can’t apply this logic to other people in other situations as they’re confused by external changes in appearance, so they believe someone will change sex if they engage in activities associated with the opposite gender

stage 3 - gender constancy

around 6 years onwards
children recognise that gender remains permanent and constant across time and situations, and this applies to other people as well as their own
they won’t be confused by changes in outward appearance - i.e. they may regard a man in a dress as unusual but can still acknowledge that he’s a man underneath
children begin to seek gender-appropriate models to identify with, and imitate and internalise their behaviours
e.g. a boy may take an interest in football if he identifies with his father who’s also interested in football

Kohlberg’s theory - strengths

Thompson (1975) found that 76% of 2 year olds could correctly identify genders but this increased to 90% among 3 year olds, which is consistent with Kohlberg’s timeline
Slaby and Frey (1975) found that after children reach gender constancy, they pay more attention to same-sex role models, which is in line with Kohlberg’s predictions
it’s compatible with biological and social explanations, e.g the idea of a child identifying with and imitating same-sex role models is compatible with social learning explanations

Kohlberg’s theory - limitations

Bussey and Bandura (1992) found that children as young as 4 showed signs of gender constancy, which challenges Kohlberg’s timeline
his theory was based on interviews with 2 year olds, so Kohlberg may have failed to acknowledge that these children lack vocabulary to express their understanding fully, thus questioning the validity of his theory
criticised for its lack of explanation of how and why the gender stages occur

gender schema theory

Martin and Halverson (1981) argue that children start developing gender schemas (mental frameworks to understand gender) at around 2-3 years old
they agree with Kohlberg to some extent, believing that children are active in acquiring information about gender rather than passively observing and imitating role models (SLT), but they believe children behave in gendered ways from a much earlier age
Bem (1993) also believed that gender schemas become the lenses through which we view the world

developmental changes in children’s gender schemas

from 2-3, children establish their own gender identity then seek information that encourages development of this gender schema
over time, gender schemas develop along with other developments in thinking
by age 6, the child has a fixed and stereotypical idea about what’s appropriate for its gender
children have a better understanding of schemas appropriate to their own gender (in-group) rather than the opposite gender (out-group)
children are likely to dismiss information that conflicts with their in-group schema as they display a strong in-group bias when processing information
by 8, they develop schemas for the opposite gender as well
by the time the child is a teenager, they realise many so-called gender ‘rules’ are just social customs, so their gender schema becomes more flexible

gender schema theory - strengths

Martin and Little (1990) found that children aged 3-5 had stereotypical beliefs about what toys and clothes go with each gender, suggesting they’ve already developed gender schemas by this age
it can explain aspects of many children’s thinking as it accounts for the fact that young children tend to hold very fixed gender attitudes and they only retain info that agrees with their beliefs, e.g. Martin and Halverson (1983) found that children aged 5-6 were more likely to remember photos of gender-typical behaviour, e.g. a boy playing with a train, and more likely to forget non-stereotypical pictures, e.g. a girl sawing wood, which is in line with this idea

gender schema theory - limitations

many studies suggest that children demonstrate gender-typical behaviours before forming gender schema, e.g. Alexander et al. (2009) found boys aged 3-8 months looked at toy trucks more than toy dolls and vice versa for girls
Hassett et al. (2008) found that rhesus monkeys (who don’t have gender schema) also display preferences for gender-typical toys, suggesting others factors, e.g. biology, influence gender development, so an interactionist explanation may be more appropriate
reinforces negative stereotypes from a young age as boys show stronger gender schemas, perhaps because they’re more likely to be penalised, especially by fathers, for displaying feminine behaviours
the theory assumes that by changing children’s gender schemas, their behaviour can be changed, but it’s hard to change behaviour even if certain beliefs are held, e.g. many married couples with strong views about equality of sexes still typically organise household roles according to stereotypes

how gender schema theory differs from Kohlberg’s theory

gender behaviour starts before constancy
the gender labelling stage is enough to spark a child’s gendered interest in the world
our gender understanding focuses around in-groups before out-groups
GST expands on Kohlberg’s theory to explain not just what happens, but how it happens, i.e. how gender affects schemas, stereotypes, memory, etc.
gender development continues beyond constancy

psychodynamic explanation for gender

focuses on how the unconscious mind drives changes and the development of behaviour
main example is Freud’s psychoanalytic theory

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory

explains behaviour as the result of conflicts between different parts of the mind - the id, ego and superego
Freud says childhood development involves resolving 5 conflicts and passing through the 5 psychosexual stages
main focus is on the phallic stage

five psychosexual stages

the oral stage, (from birth-15 months) - only the id is present, so a child is governed by its innate drives and seeks immediate gratification achieved through its mouth, i.e. feeding, crying, etc.
the anal stage, (from 15m-3 years) - focus of gratification shifts from the mouth to the anus, so the child experiences pleasure from the elimination of faeces
the phallic stage, (from 3-5 years) - focus of gratification is now on genitals, but not the same gratification that’s experienced by adults
the latency stage, (from 5 years-puberty) - the drives that have been responsible for gratification in the previous stages appear relatively inactive
the genital stage, (puberty onwards) - re-emergence of the earlier drives, focussing on the genitals once again, but this time with an adult expression of sexuality

the phallic stage

Freud says gender develops during the phallic stage (3-5 years) as children have no concept of gender identity before this
children also experience the oedipus or electra complex in this stage as the focus of pleasure switches to the genitals

the oedipus complex

applies to boys
claims that a boy develops an unconscious sexual interest for his mum, resulting in intense feelings of jealousy, hatred, and rivalry aimed at his father
the boy’s id (unconscious and instinctive part) wants to kill the father to have the mother for himself, but his ego (practical part) recognises that the father is stronger than him
consequently, the boy develops castration anxiety; he fears that his father will discover these feelings and punish him by castrating him (removing his penis)
at this point, the boy faces a conflict between his feelings of lust for his mother and feelings of hostility / jealousy towards his father
to resolve the conflict, the boy gives up his love for the mother and begins to identify with his father (identification with aggressor)

the electra complex

applies to girls
prior to the phallic stage, a girl has no concept of her gender, so when she reaches this stage, she believes she doesn’t have a penis because she’s been castrated
the girl experiences penis envy as she desires a penis, so she develops a desire for her father as he has what she wants
she also develops a dislike of her mother for being in competition for her father’s love, and because she blames the mother for taking her penis
however, the girl also loves her mother and fears losing her if she discovers her desires for her father, so the girl faces a conflict
to resolve this, the girl represses her feelings of dislike for her mother and instead identifies with her and internalises her behaviour
the girl substitutes her desire for a penis with a desire to have a baby

identification and internalisation

the psychodynamic approach claims that conflicts which arise during the phallic stage are resolved through the use of defence mechanisms, known as identification and internalisation
boys adopt values of the father and take on his identity and internalise his behaviours, and vice versa for girls with their mothers
so, the approach stresses the importance of the role both parents play in their child’s development of a healthy gender identity

Little Hans (oedipus complex)

freud used a detailed case study of Little Hans as evidence to support the oedipus complex
Hans was 5 with an intense fear of horses after seeing one collapse in the street, and feared that a horse would bite him
however, freud claimed this fear of horses was actually a displaced fear of his father and fear of it biting him was actually his fear of castration
in later therapy sessions, Hans described a dream in which a plumber replaced his penis with a bigger one, which freud interpreted as Hans identifying with his father and overcoming his oedipus complex
Hans overcame his fear of horses and went on to become a psychologically healthy adult

psychodynamic explanations for gender - strengths

Little Hans case study
research evidence to support the idea of the importance of the role of both parents in gender development

psychodynamic explanations for gender - limitations

it’s based solely on the case of Little Hans, so would be unrealistic to suggest the oedipus complex is a universal process of male development
the concepts outlined are largely untestable, e.g. the unconscious mind is probably impossible to observe and measure
so freud’s theories are unfalsifiable as there’s no evidence that could disprove them
several studies, e.g. GST and Kohlberg’s theory, demonstrate that children are aware of their own gender much earlier than the phallic stage which freud suggests
androcentric bias in his theories as they’re mainly focused on male gender development, i.e. oedipus and electra complex assume the male perspective as desirable - boys fear losing a penis and girls have a desire for it

social learning explanation for gender development

social learning theory acknowledges the role that the social context plays in development, and states that all behaviour is learnt from observing and imitating others
this explanation draws attention to the role of the environment in shaping gender development, including the influence of culture and media

reinforcement

encouragement to increase behaviour
positive - adding a pleasant stimulus to increase behaviour
negative - removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase behaviour

punishment

encouragement to decrease behaviour
positive - adding an unpleasant stimulus to decrease behaviour
negative - removing a pleasant stimulus to decrease behaviour

direct reinforcement

children are likely to be reinforced when demonstrating gender appropriate behaviour
they’re more likely to imitate behaviour that’s been reinforced and unlikely to imitate behaviour that’s been punished
children learn their gender identity through differential reinforcement - how boys and girls are reinforced (encouraged) to show gender-appropriate behaviours

indirect / vicarious reinforcement

children are more likely to imitate behaviours that have provided favourable consequences for someone else
they’re unlikely to imitate behaviours where the role-model has had a negative experience

identification and modelling

identification is when a child attaches themselves to someone thats like them, or someone they want to be, i.e. role models, and they’re usually the same sex
modelling is the demonstration of a behaviour that may be imitated by the observer, i.e. the child
a child needs to have self-efficacy - the belief that they’re capable of imitating the behaviour

meditational processes

social learning theorists have suggested 4 meditational / cognitive processes that are key to the learning of gender behaviour;
1. attention - paying attention to the modelled behaviour
2. retention - remembering what the model has shown
3. reproduction - having the physical ability to replicate the role model’s behaviour
4. motivation - the will to repeat the behaviour, e.g. if we’ve seen that it may be positively rewarded

social learning explanation for gender development - strengths

Smith and Lloyd (1978) did a study of 4-6 month old babies who were dressed in boys’ clothes half the time and girls’ clothes the other half, and adults gave the babies toys associated with the ‘gender’ of their clothes, suggesting that gender-appropriate behaviour is stamped-in at an early age through differential reinforcement
explains changing gender roles in Western society because where there’s been a shift in social expectations over the years, new forms of acceptable gender behaviour have been reinforced

social learning explanation for gender development - limitations

not a developmental theory, as it doesn’t explain how learning processes change with age
it places little emphasis on the influence of genes and chromosomes, which may be more appropriate as innate biological differences may be reinforced through social interactions and cultural expectations
psychodynamic approach would accuse SLT of focusing too heavily on conscious meditational / cognitive processes and ignoring the importance of the unconscious

influence of culture on gender roles

cross culture research helps contribute to the nature-nurture debate in gender
if a particular gender-role behaviour is consistent across cultures, we can conclude it represents an innate biological gender difference
but if gender roles seem culturally specific, we can assume it’s due to the different social norms and values across cultures

Mead (1935) culture study

she studied gender roles among different tribes in Papua New Guinea
she observed that many tribes had gender roles that differed from each other and from typical gender roles in Western cultures;
arapresh - both men and women were caring and peaceful (stereotypically female behaviour in western cultures)
mundugumor - both men and women were aggressive and warlike (stereotypically male behaviour in western cultures)
tchambuli - women were dominant and worked, while the men were more passive and considered decorative (reverse of western stereotypes)
suggests that gender roles may be culturally determined, rather than biologically determinted
however, her interpretations have been criticised as Errington and Gewertz (1989) also studied the tchambuli tribe but found no evidence to support the gender roles described by Mead

culture and gender roles - strengths

Mead’s study
changes in culture over time lead to developments in thinking, which can explain changing gender stereotypes

culture and gender roles - limitations

Mead demonstrated observer bias as her preconceptions of what she’d find had influenced her reading of events, as she exaggerated the findings between men and women and didn’t always report her findings
Mead was also criticised for making generalisations based on one short period of study
William and Best (1990) found that there’s a universal agreement across cultures about which characteristics were masculine, e.g. dominance, and which were more feminine, e.g. caring
Berry (2002) suggests an imposed etic as western researchers apply western concepts to the cultures they research, so he says indigenous researchers should be used in cross-cultural research to avoid this bias

influence of media on gender roles

the media provides role models with whom children may identify with and want to imitate
children are likely to select same-sex role models who engage in gender appropriate behaviour
Bussey and Bandura (1999) give many examples of how the media portray gender stereotypes, e.g. tv shows tend to show men as ambitious, independent and ‘advice givers’, but show women as unambitious, dependant, and ‘advice seekers’
these stereotypes also exist in adverts, with men typically promoting cars, computers, etc. and women promoting makeup, food, etc.
there’s evidence that children who have more exposure to popular forms of media tend to display more gender-stereotypical behaviour
seeing others perform gender-appropriate behaviour increases the child’s self-efficacy

media and gender roles - strengths

can be used to counter-stereotypes by creating media that challenges the traditional notion of masculinity and femininity
e.g. Pingree found that gender-stereotyping was reduced when children were shown adverts of women in non-stereotypical roles

media and gender roles - limitations

however, it was also found that pre-adolescent boys had stronger stereotypes after seeing non-traditional gender models, perhaps due to their desire of maintaining their views
it may be a correlation, rather than causation, i.e. the media outputs may just reflect prevailing social norms about males and females
questions about temporal validity as the studies linking media and gender-stereotypical views were conducted in the 1980/90s, and modern portrayal of males and females is much less gender-stereotypical
an interactionist approach may be more appropriate, i.e. there’s a biological basis to gender roles which is amplified and exaggerated by social learning

gender dysphoria (gender identity disorder)

a condition where a person’s biological sex doesn’t match their psychological gender identity (the sex they feel)
seen as a psychological disorder due to the stress and discomfort it causes
to reduce these feelings, a person may take steps to align their outer appearance with their inner gender, e.g. wear gender-typical clothes of the sex they identify with, take masculinising/feminising hormones, or undergo gender reassignment surgery

biological explanations of gender dysphoria

genetic factors;
Hare et al (2009) studied 112 male to female transsexuals and found they were more likely to have a longer version of the androgen receptor gene, which causes a reduction in testosterone and reduces development in the womb, potentially under-mascunalising them, i.e. caused by a lack of prenatal hormone exposure
Coolidge et al. (2002) analysed 157 twin pairs and estimated that gender dysphoria is 62% caused by genetics and 38% by non-shared environmental experiences
brain sex theory suggests that gender dysphoria is caused by brain structures that are incompatible with a person’s biological sex;
the area of the brain known as the BSTc is 40% larger in males than females, and 2 studies found that the number of neurons in the BSTc of transgender females was similar to that of females, and in male transgenders, it matched the typical range of neurons in males, suggesting the size of the BSTc correlates with preferred sex

biological explanations of gender dysphoria - strengths

Hines (2004) says that a strong, persistent desire to change sex, despite prejudice, bullying, etc., suggests it’s an internal biological force, not choice
provides an explanation that won’t cause psychological harm, as patients won’t blame their own psychology for feeling gender dysphoric

biological explanations of gender dysphoria - limitations

concordance rates amongst identical twins are much less than 100%, suggesting other factors, e.g. social ones, also play a role
reductive to ignore the importance of other explanations
Gladue (1985) found that there were very few hormonal differences between gender-dysphoric, heterosexual, and homosexual men, dismissing the idea it’s caused by a lack of prenatal testosterone exposure
research has found that hormone therapy can change the size of the BSTc, suggesting differences in brain structures may be an effect of hormone therapy rather than a cause of gender dysphoria
difficult to separate genes and environment when studying twins, so the role of genetics may be overestimated

social explanations of gender dysphoria

cognitive theory; it’s caused by children observing and imitating role models of the opposite sex, and if they’re encouraged, it can be reinforced through operant conditioning, e.g. if a boy is praised for wearing a dress, it can create a conflict between his biological sex and psychological gender, leading to gender dysphoria
Liden and Bigler proposed an extension of gender schema theory, suggesting a dual pathway where the original was the first, but the second personal pathway may result in a non-sexed type schema if their behaviours identify more with their out-group than in-group
psychoanalytic theory; Ovesey and Pearson argued that in males, it’s caused by extreme separation anxiety before gender identity is establish, so the child ‘becomes the mother’ and adopts a female gender identity
Stoller (1975) found that transgender females had overly close mother-son relationships, which may have led to female identification and a confused gender identity

social explanations of gender dysphoria - strengths

research support from Ovesey and Pearson and Stoller
social factors will likely play a role as biological explanations for dysphoria are incomplete, e.g. concordance rates for gender dysphoria among identical twins aren’t 100%, so other factors must also be influential

social explanations of gender dysphoria - limitations

the cognitive theory fails to explain why a child may become interested in gender-appropriate activities of the opposite sex
Ovesey and Pearson’s theory is androcentric as it only applies to males (transgender females)
their theory is also unscientific and unfalsifiable as the fantasies that trigger gender dysmorphia and focus on the mother are thought to occur at an unconscious level

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4.3.3 Gender Flashcards

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