24th November 2023

Gender Development

Gender identity and gender behaviour

We’ll start by defining some key concepts before looking at gender development in further detail.

• Gender identity – An individual’s own understanding and perception of their gender.
• Sexual identity – In contrast, it is based on a person’s sexual characteristics, such as their external and internal genitalia, hormonal characteristics, and secondary sexual characteristics.
• Gender dysphoria – A ‘disconnect’ between gender identity and sexual identity, and it is more common in boys than in girls.
• Gender roles – Social expectations comprising the generalised patterns of activities, looks, and behaviours associated with being a man or a woman. These roles can either match or contrast with a child’s gender identity.

There are many different factors which influence a person’s gender identity. These include chromosomes, gonadal endowment (testes/ovaries), internal structures (uterus/prostate), external genitalia (penis/vagina), hormonal balance, the gender assigned at birth, and the response of parents to the child’s assigned gender.

Milestones of gender development 

By the age of ten months, babies are already capable of associating certain objects and items with gender roles, and by 18 to 24 months, they start to identify between genders and use gender labels in their speech. In addition, by approximately 18 months, most kids become aware of their own gender. At around five to six years of age, children usually make their gender identity known by declaring whether they are male or female. Throughout their development, it is typical for children to explore and experiment with different gender expressions and roles.

Kohlberg’s classical stage theory

According to Kohlberg’s (1966) classical stage theory of gender development, children can identify their gender by 2 years of age, understand its stability by 4, and comprehend its constancy and independence from external features by 7. However, we now acknowledge that gender identity encompasses an individual’s recognition of gender affiliation, personal compatibility with their category, pressure to fit in, and perspectives on gender groups. The formation of a transgender or gender nonconforming identity involves intricate collaboration of phenomena throughout time. The acknowledgement of fluidity and variability in gender identity is becoming more prevalent.

Gender dysphoria

Gender dysphoria is defined as a persistent discomfort and sense of inappropriateness regarding one’s assigned sex and is more commonly seen in boys than girls. In most cases, gender dysphoria dissipates in the years prior to puberty. However, in a minority of cases (15%), the dysphoria may continue into adulthood.

Physical and psychiatric presenting symptoms of gender dysphoria can include a preference for friends of the opposite sex, preoccupation with wearing the opposite gender’s clothes, refusal to use the bathroom in the expected way, the belief that they were born in the wrong body, requests for medications or surgeries to change their physical appearance, and other modifications to the body such as mastectomies and testosterone use for women, and electrolysis, oestrogen use, and genital surgeries for men.

References

• Zucker, K. J. (2017). Epidemiology of gender dysphoria and transgender identity. Sexual Health, 14(5), 404-411.
• Blakemore, J. E. O., & Hill, C. A. (2008). The child’s understanding of gender roles. In M. Killen & J. G. Smetana (Eds.), Handbook of moral development (2nd ed., pp. 357-381). Psychology Press.
• Martin, C. L., & Ruble, D. N. (2010). Patterns of gender development. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 353-381.