The Biological Contributions to Gender Identity and Gender Diversity: Bringing Data to the Table. Behav Genet 2018 Mar;48(2):95-108
Date
02/21/2018Pubmed ID
29460079DOI
10.1007/s10519-018-9889-zScopus ID
2-s2.0-85042173905 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 91 CitationsAbstract
The American Psychological Association defines gender identity as, "A person's deeply-felt, inherent sense of being a boy, a man, or a male; a girl, a woman, or a female; or an alternative gender (e.g., genderqueer, gender nonconforming, gender neutral) that may or may not correspond to a person's sex assigned at birth or to a person's primary or secondary sex characteristics" (American Psychological Association, Am Psychol 70(9):832-864, 2015). Here we review the evidence that gender identity and related socially defined gender constructs are influenced in part by innate factors including genes. Based on the data reviewed, we hypothesize that gender identity is a multifactorial complex trait with a heritable polygenic component. We argue that increasing the awareness of the biological diversity underlying gender identity development is relevant to all domains of social, medical, and neuroscience research and foundational for reducing health disparities and promoting human-rights protections for gender minorities.
Author List
Polderman TJC, Kreukels BPC, Irwig MS, Beach L, Chan YM, Derks EM, Esteva I, Ehrenfeld J, Heijer MD, Posthuma D, Raynor L, Tishelman A, Davis LK, International Gender Diversity Genomics ConsortiumAuthor
Jesse Ehrenfeld MD, MPH Sr Associate Dean, Director, Professor in the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
FemaleGender Dysphoria
Gender Identity
Humans
Male
Sex Characteristics
Sexual Behavior
Transgender Persons
