Biological and Psychological/Social Explanations GID Biological and Psychological/Social Explanations

Recap What are the social influences of gender roles. Culture/media (This could be a specific question) Parents tend to be the first role models to model gender appropriate behaviour. Reinforcing gender appropriate behaviour. Peers then become important and children may be reinforced by other children for playing gender appropriate games. Teachers can also subtly reinforce gender stereotypes and influence gender roles All these can be linked to SLT

Reinforcement Boys receive reinforcement for playing active games and construction toys such as lego – much more so than girls. Siegel (1987) found that fathers respond negatively to a boy engaging in feminine activities. Are boys reinforced more for being masculine than girls are for being feminine?

GID Everything covered in the talk will relate to your worksheet. You should take notes and then use this information to fill in the worksheet or write directly on the sheet.

What is GID A condition recognised as a psychiatric condition. It is also known as Gender Dysphoria Someone with this condition identifies strongly with the sex opposite to their biological sex. People treated for this condition are around 1 in 4000 people in the British population.

Causes of GID Biological – underexposure or overexposure to male hormones in the womb Females – overexposure results in masculinisation. Males – Underexposure results in feminisation. Social psychological – Relationships with parents, reinforcement, lack of same sex models.

Biological Explanations The SDN is influenced by prenatal hormones. It is increased in size and density in males because of the influence of testosterone in the womb. Exposure to high levels of testosterone can increase the size of the SDN and so may be associated with FtM dysphoria

Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis BSTc Located in the thalamus is twice as large in heterosexual men than heterosexual women. In two studies it was found that the number of neurons in MtF was similar to females rather than males and in FtM more similar to males.

Research Females with CAH – congenital adrenal hyperplasia have masculinised genitalia at birth. This is caused by enlarged adrenal glands and exposure to androgens (male hormones) Pasterski found that 12.8% of girls with CAH meet the criteria for GID.

Is there a Genetic Link Heylens et al (2012) A review of studies looking at the concordance of MZ and DZ twins with GD. They chose twins where one of the pair had GD. In females 3/8 were concordant for GD in MZ and in DZ 5/5 discordant. In males 6/15 concordant for GD and 16/16 DZ were discordant.

Green (1997) studied 44 boys referred during childhood to a clinic for strong feminine behaviours. They were compared to a control group of age matched boys. A follow up study when they were aged 18 found that only one of the 44 boys had remained gender dysphoric and opted for gender reassignment surgery. Similar findings from other studies have also found this. If GID was biological you would expect there to be continuity between childhood and adulthood.

Social/Psychological Relationships with opposite sex parent –see handout. Zucker (1996) studied 115 boys with concerns over their gender identity. Of those eventually diagnosed with GID 64% were also diagnosed with separation anxiety. A further study found high levels of emotional overinvolvement in mothers of boys with GID.

Commentary and evaluation Overall research points to a biological explanation. Research into social causes is much less well established and has dropped off in recent years. Write up two PEEL points for social/psychological and biological explanations. Use the back of the handout to help you.