What Is Gender Identity Disorder?

Gender identity (or gender identity) is the correct recognition of one's own gender, that is, mastering one's own sexual attributes or corresponding functions.

Gender identity (or gender identity) is the correct recognition of one's own gender, that is, mastering one's own sexual attributes or corresponding functions.

Chinese name

Gender identity

Foreign name

Gender identity

Applied discipline

psychology

Gender identity concept

Gender identity (or gender identity) is the correct recognition of one's own gender, that is, mastering one's own sexual attributes or corresponding functions.

Under normal circumstances, children always enter the world with a defined gender identity. As soon as they came out, parents began to treat them in specific ways that were adapted to specific genders, such as names, clothing, toys, and even future behavioral requirements, lifestyles, ethics, and so on. Children begin to encounter their own gender issues from their attitudes towards them, and begin to distinguish between males and females around them with certain external markers. Some researchers have reported that as early as 2 years old, children have begun to understand some gender identity, they can identify with their photos, and they have begun to understand the gender of words and things with different gender meanings (such as the tie is the father's , Lipstick is mom's etc). 2.5-year-old children can begin to answer questions about gender, identify the gender of the person in the picture, and identify themselves with the gender of the person in the picture. Children around the age of 3 have improved their understanding of gender, but they have not yet used the gender type markers to choose their own gender. In order to study the factors of children's gender identity, Thompson & Bentler (1971) presented a naked doll with irregular gender characteristics to children 4-6 years old and a group of adults. This doll is neither a male, It is not female, but it has three characteristics, that is, female body type, female hairstyle, and male genitalia. The main test gave the participants two piles of clothing, one was women's clothing, and the other was men's clothing. The participants were asked to choose the right clothes for the dolls so that they could "go to the party" or "go to the seaside", and also give the children toys. Give the baby a name and explain why it is so named. Studies have found that children use the length of a doll's hair as a criterion for determining sex, and pay little attention to biological characteristics. Of the 144 children, only 14 mentioned the characteristics of the doll's upper body, and only 24 mentioned the genitals. Adults used sexual and secondary sexual characteristics as factors determining the sex of the doll. The researchers also found that children's ability to use biological characteristics for identification did not improve significantly between the ages of 4 and 6. ^[1]

Children use hairstyles, clothing, etc. as the basis for differentiating gender. When hairstyles and dresses change, they think that gender will change as well, which is a kind of non-conservation about gender. Like conservation of length, volume, and weight, gender conservation also has a developmental process, reaching about seven years of age. Gender conservation is accomplished with other kinds of conservation, and it is largely related to the enhancement of children's understanding. Gender identity is the result of the interaction between children and adults on the basis of biology. Children's gender identity cannot be separated from the education methods and attitudes of adults (especially parents), and children's gender identity in turn affects parents' socialization Development of children, because children have become a significant factor in the development of parents' own socialization, so it is said that for parents, there are two socialization processes, one is the socialization of children, and the other is the parents in the adult society It is very reasonable to say that the development is continuing.

Gender Identity Development Stage

Kohlberg divides the development of child gender conservation into three phases.

The first stage: gender mark. Early preschool children can correctly identify themselves and others' gender. But at this time, children's understanding of gender is based on external and superficial characteristics, such as hair length and clothing. After changing the costume or hairstyle of a doll, children think that its sex has changed.

The second stage: fixed gender. At this time, children have a certain understanding of the "conservative nature" of gender. For example, they know that boys will grow into men in the future and girls will grow into women in the future, but they still believe that changing clothing and hairstyle can lead to gender change.

The third stage: gender consistency. Kindergarten children and lower elementary school children are beginning to be convinced of gender consistency, and they know that even if a person wears the wrong clothes, it will not change gender.

Children's acquisition of gender conservation is not only related to the development of cognitive level, but also to their knowledge of gender. Studies of children between 3 and 5 years of age have found that knowledge of genitals in preschool children has a significant role in distinguishing between sexes.

Gender identity meaning

Gender identity is of great significance to the psychological development of individuals. The gender identity of most people is consistent with the gender in the biological sense. As a result, they can adapt to normal social life and can safely accept their own sexual characteristics. If gender identity is impaired, it will not be able to adapt peacefully and socially. Seriously, it will form "heterosexuality", that is, a biologically determined man or woman, but rejects his gender, insisting that he is a heterosexual, or even Hesitate to use surgery to achieve the goal. This is a sexual psychological disorder, and psychologically speaking, it is all related to the obstacles of early gender identity.