Biological and Psychodynamic Approaches to Atypical Gender Development
This page delves deeper into various theories of gender development, providing key studies and explanations for both typical and atypical gender development. It covers biological, cognitive, psychodynamic, and social learning approaches.
The biological perspective on atypical gender development is explored through twin studies:
- Coolidge et al. found 62% of variance in gender dysphoria could be attributed to genetic factors
- Heylens et al. showed higher concordance for gender dysphoria in monozygotic twins compared to dizygotic twins
The brain sex theory is introduced, suggesting that gender dysphoria may have a basis in brain structure:
- The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis BST is highlighted as a key area of interest
- Kruijver et al. found transgender females had female-sized BST
Vocabulary: BST bednucleusofthestriaterminalis - A brain region involved in emotional responses and male sexual behavior in rats, which is typically larger in men than women.
Example: Kruijver et al.'s study found that transgender individuals showed an average BST neuron number in the female range, supporting the brain sex theory.
Highlight: While brain differences have been observed in transgender individuals, it's unclear whether these differences precede or result from hormone therapy.
