Chapter 14: Sexual Dysfunctions, Gender Dysphoria, and Paraphilic Disorders

Biological Sex

determined by sex chromosomes, anatomy (at birth and following puberty), and hormones

Gender

the socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female

Gender Identity

psychological sense of one's gender

Transgender

Psychological sense of being a gender that is not the same as assigned sex

Sexual Orientation

a person's romantic / sexual and emotional attraction to others

History of Homosexuality in Theories

At first people thought homosexuality was a disease. Then they thought it was just being being immature.

History of Homosexuality in the DSM

Once thought homosexuality was a mental disorder. In DSM 2 (1980) it was changed to "Ego-Dsytonic Homosexuality" meaning homosexuality goes against your own values, so it is distressing.

Homosexuality was removed in 1987 from the DSM because...

it is not a disorder if it is not distressing and disrupting your daily life. And shocker... homosexuality is not distressing.

Conversion Therapy

therapy that is focused on changing one's sexual orientation.

Aversion Therapy

a type of conversion therapy. Used classical / operant conditioning to make people avoid attraction situations.

All the major psychological associations think conversion and aversion therapies...

suck and do more harm than good. There's barely any evidence proving they work and a ton of evidence proving they cause harm.

Indications of Transgender Identity

- wanting to be other gender
- wanting things / wearing clothes of the opposite gender
- Doing things normally done by the opposite gender
- hanging out with the other gender more
- strong dislike of one's own sexual anatomy
- Strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex characteristics that match one's experienced gender

Causes of Transgender ID

- bio: heritability is 62%, prenatal environment impacting brain development: -Presence of hormones during prenatal development -Insensitivity syndrome
- other dimensions are unclear but I'm sure they have some influence.
- socialization has a major role in gender roles

Gender Dysphoria (gender identity disorder)

Unhappiness / dissatisfaction about gender & biological sex. Associated with serious emotional distress / functioning lasting for at least 6 months.

Only some individuals regarded as transgender experience gender dysphoria. Just because you have gender dysphoria doesn't mean...

you are transgender and vise versa.

Treatment for Gender Dysphoria

Social Support.