10.1.2

Gender Identity Disorder

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Gender Dysphoria

Sex is what a person is born biologically and gender is the norms/behaviours a person acts and identifies as. If there is a disconnect between a person’s sex and their gender and this causes them distress, there are said to have gender identity disorder.

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Gender non-conforming

  • Certain people feel that their biological sex does not match with their identity in terms of gender.
  • For example, a person who is born biologically female may feel mentally/psychologically male.
  • They can be referred to as gender non-conforming, gender expansive or commonly, transgender.
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Gender dysphoria

  • When this disconnect between sex and gender causes a person distress and anxiety, it is labelled as gender dysphoria.
  • The DSM-5 refers to this as gender dysphoria which some believe has less stigma associated with that term.
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Transgender and GID

  • It is important to note that being transgender does not necessarily mean a person has gender identity disorder.
  • GID is the result of the distress and anxiety caused by the incongruity between their sex and gender.
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Transsexual

  • Another term that is often used is transsexual.
  • This term, currently, can be considered a subset of transgendered as those that have been ‘transsexed’, i.e. have undergone gender-reassignment surgery.
  • However, some transgender individuals reject the term transsexual and some transsexual individuals reject transgender. Use discretion while using these terms.
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Transvestism

  • It is also important to note that GID is different from cross-dressing (this is referred to as transvestism). People can cross-dress without wanting to change their sex and those who have GID may or may not enjoy cross-dressing.
  • Some people with GID live full-time as their identified sex while some do not.
  • Some may choose to undergo hormonal treatment or surgery to change their physical sex.

Jump to other topics

1Social Influence

2Memory

3Attachment

4Psychopathology

5Approaches in Psychology

6Biopsychology

7Research Methods

8Issues & Debates in Psychology (A2 only)

9Option 1: Relationships (A2 only)

10Option 1: Gender (A2 only)

11Option 1: Cognition & Development (A2 only)

12Option 2: Schizophrenia (A2 only)

13Option 2: Eating Behaviour (A2 only)

14Option 2: Stress (A2 only)

15Option 3: Aggression (A2 only)

16Option 3: Forensic Psychology (A2 only)

17Option 3: Addiction (A2 only)

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