As our understanding of gender identity expands, our understanding of how identity is situated within other aspects of gender should expand as well. Lest you think that what we are proposing here is social engineering, we challenge you to appreciate that social engineering has been going on for centuries to support the power of gender schemas; for example, always referring to young students as boys and girls, having different styles of name tags for boys and girls, completely different styles of clothing for girls and separate toy aisles (Bigler, 1995; Fabes et al., 2019). Beischel WJ, Schudson ZC, Hoskin RA, & van Anders SM (in prep). HHS Vulnerability Disclosure, Help Adolescents actively evaluate their identities during adolescence, and one of the most salient and central identities for youth concerns their gender identity. and transmitted securely. If part of gender segregation beginning in early childhood is due to social reinforcement, perhaps teachers and adults might consider engaging in less overt encouragement of same-gender play, for example, not having girls and boys line up separately, and constantly encouraging children of the same gender to play and work together (Bigler, 1995; Fabes et al., 2019). But Ray Blanchard, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto in Canada who worked for 15 years in a gender identity clinic that screened candidates for sex reassignment surgery, says the paper . All studies focused on some aspect of peer social relations or processes, adjustment, or digital communication, and primarily recruited university students. DeLay D, Lynn Martin C, Cook RE, Hanish LD. Modern developmental work on gender identity proposes that Gender identity may be defined as a set of cognitions encompassing a persons appraisals of compatibility with, and motivation to fit in with, a gender collective (Perry et al., 2019, p. 289). Young people are challenging gender to expand beyond a male/female binary, yet research practices still lag behind these conceptions. Peer Influence, Friend Selection, and Gender: How Network Processes government site. Not only are young people embracing new gender identities and expressions, but they are also becoming more outspoken, visible, and active in their conceptualizations of gender. An official website of the United States government. Copyright 2023 National Academy of Science. Childrens gender cognitions, such as their perceived similarity to their gender category, likely further perpetuate gender segregation in childhood (Martin et al., 2011). Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Given this and other issues in measurement of gender diversity that will be discussed subsequently, this is likely to be an underestimate of the number of young people that identify or express their gender outside the male-female binary. Though this could limit generalizability for an isolated study, as more researchers employ inclusive practices for measuring gender, we will be able to compare across samples and begin to understand language around gender in a systematic and generalizable way. As one example, even the presence of a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) in LGBT students high schools has been associated with better school functioning and lower psychological distress and problematic alcohol use (Baams & Russell, 2021). For example, maybe adolescents across genders build trust with ingroup peers, but the ways they build trust or the strength of trust in relationships differs among cisgender, transgender, and non-binary individuals. Perhaps it is more important to know how participants express and present their gender outwardly (gender expression), or perhaps it is important to know the intersection of these facets. During adolescence, gender identity (GI) develops through a dialectic process of personal reflection and with input from the social environment. It could also be helpful to give participants autonomy in their gender self-categorization and phrase gender identity questions transparently with respect to the research question or process. If the design allows, it may be helpful to allow participants to both select a closed-ended label for self-categorization and define their gender in an open-response format (Beischel et al., in preparation; Puckett et al., 2020; Suen et al., 2020). The two-step approach is suggested to work well not only with adults but also with youth and adolescent populations (Reisner et al., 2015). The site is secure. However, this method requires researchers to interpret and assign gender categories for participants, which may introduce unconscious or unintended bias on behalf of the investigators that are tasked with labelling or grouping participants post-hoc (Schrager et al., 2019). Peer influence is a phenomenon that affects many youth due to the importance of peer relationships during adolescence (Brinthaupt, 2002). These dimensions reflect the ways that children may understand differences between gender groups (e.g., connectedness, gender differentiation, intergroup bias), within any given gender group (e.g., typicality, centrality, frustration), and how they may view themselves in relation to both these aspects (e.g., self-categorization, felt pressure and typicality for the individual). Gender segregation persists, although at a declining rate, into adolescence: in one study across ages 12 to 16, adolescents were consistently found to have about three times more same-gender than other-gender friends (Poulin & Pederson, 2007). It is also a topic that early childhood teachers are not always sure how best to address. Social Networking 10%. But that all changes when youre living in a world where gender is not an either/or proposition. In this way, the binary of male and female is de-emphasized and decentered, allowing for a more flexible and fluid understanding of gender identity and expression that more accurately reflects the ways that young people are conceptualizing gender. 2022 Sep 6;23(Suppl 1):S1-S259. . Perry DG, Pauletti RE, & Cooper PJ (2019). PDF The Effect of Peer Groups on Gender Identity and Expression - IJRHSS At what developmental stage do children begin to express diverse gender identities? It is important to cautiously interpret these responses with careful consultation from individuals who identify with a minoritized gender. The quote above by the Gender Spectrum Organization (https://genderspectrum.org/) represents the perspectives of contemporary institutions, particularly those invested in gender equity, that have begun to recognize the new ways that young people are thinking about gender identity and expression which transcend the gender binary. We provide recommended best practices to sensitively bridge this gap, including: using open responses where possible, and two-step closed-ended question formats where necessary, to measure gender identity; considering the context and role that gender identity and each of its facets might play in the research design; and preserving underrepresented groups even though they may be small. Peer relations and the development of competence in boys and girls. Another approach may even originate in the recruitment step of the research process, whereby easier-to-reach groups are over-sampled to improve the studys overall statistical power (Hennes, 2019). These responses increased as time progressed: in a study conducted in 20182019 about Snapchat, 15 individuals (1.5%) identified outside the binary; in 2019, two studies exploring online victimization and adjustment included 12 (1.2%) and 25 (2.5%) non-binary responses. It's the first study to assess peer influence on development of gender identity, using peer networks. We hypothesized stronger peer influence effects on between-gender dimensions of GI (intergroup bias and felt pressure for gender conformity) than on within-gender dimensions of GI (typicality and contentedness). When using a closed item format to assess gender identity, be aware that there is some disagreement about the best strategy. Accessibility Influence of Peers on Gender Identity in Adolescence - UK Essays Motivation 3%. Peer relations researchers need to join with young people in transcending the gender binary. To understand gender identity more deeply and in a way that reflects how young people might be conceptualizing it, other considerations are still needed, such as the role of intersecting identities. Americans' Complex Views on Gender Identity and Transgender Issues Social Influences on Gender Development: Theory and Context When possible, use open-ended response formats for items assessing gender identity. Imagine if we could study and understand what youth may already be doing to support peers with diverse gender identities. 2019 Oct;48(10):1912-1923. doi: 10.1007/s10964-019-01122-y. Peer relations researchers have created a rich body or theory and research on how young people influence one another (Brechwald & Prinstein, 2011). Gender identity development among transgender and gender nonconforming emerging adults: An intersectional approach. There is a generational divide in how we think about gender. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. Preliminary evidence suggests that gender-diverse individuals are finding increased support via online platforms (Craig et al., 2015; Lucero, 2017; Ybarra et al., 2015). Assessing a range of different gender identities could open our eyes as to the ways in which gender diverse youth connect with peer networks. Following these best practices for assessing gender identity has the potential to open our eyes as peer relations researchers to help us understand how youth may be embracing diverse gender identities. As gender-diverse youth are often included in a broad LGBT sample, it is likely that these individuals are also benefitting from the support of a queer-affirming organization in their educational community. Ethnographic research shows that in some contexts, girls and boys are likely to engage in interaction with the other gender; for example, when the activity is structured and children do not have to choose their partners (Thorne, 1993). These models suggest that instead of developmental stages, diverse gender identities develop fluidly and flexibly, involving a transactional process between interpersonal (social) and intrapersonal influences that can change and evolve over time (Ehrensaft, 2017; Fiani & Han, 2019; Hyde et al., 2019; Katz-Wise et al., 2017; Kuper et al., 2018; Morgenroth & Ryan, 2020; Pullen Sansfaon et al., 2020). 1992 Feb;13(1):59-66. For example, one gender expansive model incorporates dimensions of gender-related sense of self (gender identity, expression, physical self, and presentation) as they interact with intrapersonal developmental processes (awareness, exploration, meaning-making, and integration, Kuper et al., 2018). FOIA Transactional pathways of transgender identity development in transgender and gender-nonconforming youth and caregiver perspectives from the Trans Youth Family Study. Puckett JA, Brown NC, Dunn T, Mustanski B, & Newcomb ME (2020). Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University. Consider the intersectionality of gender with other social identities, like sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, nationality, ability, socioeconomic status, and others. Epub 2022 Aug 11. We would like to be so bold as to suggest that we use what we know about childrens peer relations to engage in social engineering strategies that create more possibilities for everyone, including children who may be developing diverse gender identities. A limitation of this view, however, is that each of the eight dimensions is usually studied in relation to the male/female binary. sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal As long as we are making suggestions for how adults might engage in gentle social engineering to support gender diverse youth, we should not forget what peer relations researchers understand about the power of friends. eCollection 2022. One common, somewhat artificial reason that researchers tend to aggregate and perhaps over-simplify their sample across gender and sexual identities is to increase statistical power, but alternative approaches could be taken. Careers. Social and peer influences. Reisner SL, Conron KJ, Baker K, Herman JL, Lombardi E, Greytak EA, & GenIUSS Group. These dimensions are most often in harmony with each other and with an individual's genital sex, although not always. Together they form a unique fingerprint. Over time, gender has been recognized as more flexible than being biologically determined and following certain stages (Perry et al., 2019; Tate et al., 2014), though traditional or mainstream conceptualizations of gender tend to still focus on binary and stable differences between boys and girls. Perhaps this is an idiosyncrasy of these samples, but more likely, young people may be increasingly embracing these identities outside the binary. ), Conversations with Friends: Speculations on Affective Development, The Future Is Non-Binary, and Teens Are Leading the Way, Optimizing Statistical Power in Studies of Difficult-to-Recruit Populations by Oversampling Well-Represented Group Members. For instance, in a study evaluating gender identity measurement in a sample of English- and Spanish-speaking older adults, the Spanish-speaking adults expressed discomfort and/or confusion regarding the gender identity questions that was not present in the English-speaking adults (Michaels et al., 2017). Parental reports (on social media) of friend clusters exhibiting signs of gender dysphoria [1-4] and increased exposure to social media/internet preceding a child's announcement of a transgender identity [1-2, 9] raise the possibility of social and peer influences. The Influence of Peers During Adolescence: Does Homophobic - Springer This call-to-action paper will review the traditional conceptualizations of gender as prevalent in peer relations research, contrasted with modern approaches from scholars studying gender and sexual orientation diversity, and outline how youth are challenging binary conceptualizations. (this issue) will address how sexual minority youth are treated by peer groups; what we would like to convey here is how peer relations research might illuminate new ways in which parents, teachers, and peer groups could, or more likely already are, supporting youth with diverse gender identities. Accessibility Parent reports of adolescents and young adults perceived to show signs Positive Peer Association among Black American Youth and the Roles of If gender diverse youth have networks that include gender typical peers, could socialization occur where gender typical youth become more affirming and accepting of gender diverse youth? Studying how gender diverse youth express themselves and connect with peers via online platforms could illuminate the supports that gender-diverse individuals are gaining online and could open our eyes to how peer support or scorn online may affect the psychological functioning of gender diverse youth. Martin CL, Fabes RA, Hanish L, Leonard S, & Dinella LM (2011). Dive into the research topics of 'Peer influence on gender identity development in adolescence'. Deutsch MB, Green J, Keatley J, Mayer G, Hastings J, Hall AM, & Blumer O (2013). Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The site is secure. Further, these assessments could elucidate how youth may be influencing each other either to reject or ostracize youth with diverse gender identities; or better yet, how prosocial, open-minded, high status peers might be able to influence others to be supportive and accepting of peers with diverse gender identities. Inclusive and expansive measurements may also serve to better describe participants genders in any study, regardless of whether the focus of the study itself is on gender. J Appl Dev Psychol. This paper will provide a brief overview of traditional and contemporary work on gender identity, then provide a variety of types of evidence that young people conceive of gender identity more broadly and flexibly. Speculations about social and affective development: Friendship and acquaintanceship through adolescence. Some investigations are beginning to recognize the impact of community contexts that are more accepting than others: for example, gender norm salience in school contexts moderated the relation between gender typicality and distress such that gender typicality and distress were positively associated in high salience contexts, but unrelated in low salience contexts (Smith et al., 2018). These were some of the most prominent provided responses when participants selected different identity and have been suggested directly by gender diverse participants in qualitative research (Puckett et al., 2020; Suen et al., 2020). Peer influence on gender identity development in - ProQuest Preview Available Scholarly Journal Peer influence on gender identity development in adolescence Kornienko, Olga; Santos, Carlos E; Martin, Carol Lynn; Granger, Kristen L. Developmental Psychology Vol. As noted above, there is every reason to believe that young people are flexible in how they think about gender identity and open to diverse possibilities. Sounding 'native': The impact of gender, identity, and peer groups on For example, maybe gender stereotypes are more important in the impact of engaging in sexual talk with peers than is the way an adolescent identifies their gender. Participants reflected that gender was easier to describe via picture than words (Moore et al., 2020). Allycen R. Kurup: Conceptualization, Writing Original Draft, Writing Review & Editing, Marion K. Underwood: Conceptualization, Writing Original Draft, Writing Review & Editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition.
