Doug P. VanderLaan

Children often display less positive attitudes toward children whose behavior differs from gender norms, which is concerning given the importance of peer relations in fostering positive mental health among gender-nonconforming youth. Prior research on children's perceptions of gender-nonconforming peers commonly employed peer appraisal measures focused on narrow domains (e.g., friendship preference), whereas perceptions of peers' traits (e.g., smart, nice) provide a broader measure of attitudes. The present study explored the relationship between children's level of gender stereotyping and trait perceptions of hypothetical gender-nonconforming peers. In a sample (N = 186) of 8- to 11-year-old Canadian children, greater gender stereotyping was associated with less positive trait perceptions of gender-nonconforming hypothetical peers. Thus, 8- to 11-year-olds who endorsed gender stereotypes were more likely to broadly perceive gender-nonconforming peers less positively. Future intervention work may target gender stereotypes as a means to improve children's attitudes toward peer gender nonconformity.

Academic Gender differences in sexuality are often attributed to evolved biological differences organized before adolescence or experiential ones learned afterward—neglecting learning that endures because it is evolutionarily expected, and we are biologically sensitized to it. Here, we present the Biodevelopmental Learning Opportunities and Outcomes Model (BLOOM) of gender differences in sexuality, arguing women’s lower interest in sex originates not from unequal capacities to want/desire it, but unequal opportunities to like/enjoy sex when biospsychosocially primed to learn from it. We synthesize evidence indicating sex is least equal in adolescence, offering the greatest costs and fewest rewards to women/girls who debut with men/boys (WDM). Concomitantly, it is most teachable in adolescence, when a window of opportunity for sexual incentive learning may open, particularly among individuals with heightened sexual plasticity/learning aptitude (i.e., women/girls). Implications for distinguishing gender differences in sexuality from experience-contingent similarities, and realizing equal sexual rights, education, and health are discussed. Public Gender differences in sexual enjoyment are among the largest in psychology and have remained so over decades despite other advances in gender equality. The gender gap in sexual pleasure, for example, has gained widespread attention and is increasingly discussed as an explanation for gender differences in sexuality. Here, we spotlight the largest, but least discussed, gender gap in sexual enjoyment: the developmental gap. We review evidence that adolescence is not simply a vulnerable period for sexual health, but a window of opportunity for learning to have healthy, enjoyable, and desirable sex—and one wherein equal opportunity is lacking. We propose women get the least equitable sex during this window, when they are primed to learn from it, and this learning informs sexual interest thereafter, generating acquired differences that are often mistaken for inborn ones. We close with recommendations for ensuring equal opportunities for healthy sex and sexual health across genders.

The kin selection hypothesis (KSH) proposes that same-sex attracted individuals offset their lowered direct reproduction via kin-directed altruism that increases close genetic relatives’ reproduction, thereby enhancing inclusive fitness. Retrospective research found that childhood concerns for kin’s well-being are elevated among birth-assigned males who are androphilic (i.e., sexually attracted to adult males) and are positively associated with childhood femininity. This pattern is posited to be a developmental precursor of avuncular/materteral tendencies in adulthood. Also, prior research indicates that male androphiles have elevated neuroticism, which is associated positively with attachment but negatively with prosocial behavior. Thus, neuroticism may promote a developmental disposition toward kin-directed altruism while inhibiting such tendencies in adulthood. Associations between femininity, childhood concerns for kin’s well-being, facets of neuroticism, and avuncular/materteral tendencies were examined in Thai individuals assigned male at birth (N = 776), including 315 heterosexual men, 232 gay men, and 229 sao praphet song (transfeminine androphiles). Avuncular/materteral tendencies were elevated among the androphilic groups in comparison with heterosexual men. Path analysis revealed that an anxiety-related facet of neuroticism and childhood femininity had indirect positive effects on avuncular/materteral tendencies through increased childhood concerns for kin’s well-being. Adulthood femininity and emotional stability (which is contra to neuroticism) had direct positive effects on avuncular/materteral tendencies. The findings support the KSH, align with previous literature on developmental precursors for kin-directed altruism, and suggest that neuroticism is relevant to consider when testing this hypothesis.

Same-sex attracted individuals report greater levels of sex-atypical childhood behaviors and adulthood occupational preferences when compared with their heterosexual counterparts. While these sexual orientation differences are well established, the extent to which gender-role presentation relates to such differences is unclear. The present study examined recalled childhood sex-(a)typical behaviors (CSAB) and adulthood occupational preferences in a diverse Thai sample (N = 1294) of cisgender heterosexual men (n = 270) and women (n = 280), gay men (n = 199), lesbian women (n = 56), and unique Thai sexual orientation/gender categories: sao praphet song (i.e., feminine-presenting same-sex attracted males; n = 166), toms (i.e., masculine-presenting same-sex attracted females; n = 174), and dees (i.e., feminine-presenting females sexually attracted to toms; n = 149). Gay men and sao praphet song reported more CSAB and sex-atypical adulthood occupational preferences than heterosexual men, and sao praphet song were more sex-atypical than gay men. Toms reported more CSAB and sex-atypical adulthood occupational preferences than heterosexual women, lesbian women, and dees, whereas lesbian women were more sex-atypical than heterosexual women and dees in childhood but not adulthood. CSAB was associated with sex-atypical adulthood occupational preferences among heterosexual men and all same-sex attracted groups, indicating continuity in gender-role expression development. Overall, this study replicates previous findings indicating greater sex-atypical behaviors and interests during childhood and adulthood among same-sex attracted individuals. It also expands upon prior literature by showing how gender-role presentation relates to these sexual orientation differences among males and females.

Prior studies suggested that children’s appraisals of gender-nonconforming, compared with gender-conforming, peers are less positive, particularly for gender-nonconforming boys. To gauge appraisals, most prior studies used verbal reports, which provide explicit measures. In contrast, the current study explored facial emotional expressions, which can potentially be an objective and implicit measure to inform the emotional component of appraisals. We examined 4-, 5-, 8-, and 9-year-olds in Hong Kong (n = 309) and Canada (n = 296) (N = 605; 303 boys, 302 girls). Children’s faces were video-recorded while viewing four vignettes of hypothetical gender-conforming and gender-nonconforming boy and girl targets in random order. Targets were shown as having gendered preferences in the domains of toys, activities, clothing and hairstyle, and playmates. FaceReader software was used to perform automated coding of six basic facial emotional expressions: angry, disgusted, happy, sad, scared, and surprised. Children showed more scared emotion toward the hypothetical gender-nonconforming boy target when compared with the gender-conforming boy target. Also, this elevation in scared emotion was correlated with children verbally reporting that they perceived the gender-nonconforming boy as being less happy relative to the gender-conforming boy. These results suggest that, during a brief initial exposure to a target peer, gender nonconformity in boy peers was related to a relatively heightened fear response in early and middle childhood. Further, facial emotional expressions can be used to gain insights regarding the emotional component of children’s appraisals of varying peer gender presentations, and these emotional responses can be associated with certain other aspects of their appraisals.

White matter (WM) microstructure is differentiated in relation to sex/gender, psychosexuality, and, among transgender people, gender‐affirming hormone (GAH) use. Prior research focused on Western samples, which limits generalizability to other populations. Here, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to assess WM microstructure in a Thai sample (N = 128) of straight cisgender men, straight cisgender women, gay cisgender men, and sao praphet song (i.e., transfeminine individuals assigned male at birth and sexually attracted to cisgender men). Sao praphet song were further grouped by GAH use. Groups were compared on fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) using whole‐brain tract‐based spatial statistics (TBSS). FA, AD, and RD were further examined via multivariate analysis to assess covariance across WM microstructural indices and participant groups. A significant multivariate pattern differentiated the feminine‐ from masculine‐identifying groups irrespective of sex assigned at birth and suggested WM tissue organization was greater among the latter in the bilateral cingulum, anterior corona radiata, left corpus callosum, and right superior longitudinal fasciculus, forceps minor, and corticospinal tracts. TBSS analyses reinforced that WM differed by gender identity in various regions. Among sao praphet song, GAH use was associated with lower regional FA, suggesting less WM organization bilaterally in the corpus callosum, cingulum, and anterior corona radiata. The findings aligned with prior studies in Western samples, indicating cross‐population generalizability of WM microstructural differentiation in relation to sex/gender, psychosexuality, and GAH use.