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Chris Morton struggles with gender dysphoria.
We studied

- behavior
- conditioning
- IQ
- stress
- motivation and emotion
- social thinking

to understand how Chris Morton's gender struggles shaped her development.

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This is the process of thinking about ourselves and others in a social context.

-Chris Morton was very social. She had friends and was the class president

-Chris Morton engaged in a sex play with girls starting at age nine and discovered she was attracted to girls

-She also disagreed with the social norms that her schoolmates practiced. For example, wearing uniforms
(Coon et al., 2019, p.517)

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Chris Morton compared herself to others

Her brother and father were males, and she wanted to experience the same

She bound her chest to look the way she wished she did

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Even with her disorder, Chris still had a powerful social influence towards her fellow students. Since she was deemed freshman class president, you can conclude she does not simply conform to the crowd, but instead leads it.

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- "A pattern of behavior expected of a person in a social position" (Coon et al., 2019, p. 514)

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The psychological disorder highlighted in the book that relates best to Chris Morton is gender dysphoria. She had feelings of being a male that was trapped in a woman's body. (Coon et al., 2019, p.451)

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We see this displayed in Chris Morton when she begins to feel uncomfortable in her changing body and when she begins to feel confused and out of place with her father and brother and her role in that relationship. (Coon et al., 2019, p. 100)

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Personality:
-"A Person's unique long-term pattern of thinking, emotion, and bahvior." (Coon et al., 2020 p. 380)

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In addition, Chris's father seems to deal with the issue at a more intellectual level. He believes that it is merely a phase that she is going through. This is known in the textbook as psychodynamics which focuses on the inner working of personality, especially internal conflicts and struggles. (Coon et al., 2019, p382)

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Active Socially

Successfully academic student

Outgoing/Leader

- She was elected                freshman class president

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Motivation is defined as a process that arouses, maintains, and guides behavior toward a goal.
(Coon et al., 2019, p. 315)

Chris Morton
-aroused by her feelings of not belonging and gender dysphoria
-maintained by these feelings continuing and the people around her's support
-guided toward her goal of not being categorized as a traditional female.

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Development of Christine's Gender Identity Crisis

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Development of Christine's Gender Identity Crisis

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-Gender identity is influenced by learning.

-Christine's father spent numerous hours teaching her and her brother to dribble and shoot baskets in the driveway.
This is typically considered a "males" game.

-Christine learned that she enjoyed engaging in "male" activities, therefore this could have developed her gender identity crisis.

(Coon et al., 2019, p. 353)

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"This means that we can learn without direct reward by observing and remembering the actions of others. But the actions that we do choose to imitate depend on their outcome." (Coon et al., 2019, p. 406)

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Erikson talks about identity and role confusion in adolescence and how children can become confused as their bodies are changing and how they develop feelings of confusion relating to who they are.  (Coon et al., 2019, p. 100)

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Chris Morton had to use emotional intelligence to understand and process the feeling that arose when she began to question her gender. She had to work through her emotions about sex play with girls, her body image issues, and feeling out of place with family and peers. (Coon et al., 2019, p. 306)

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-Despite her gender discomfort, she was academically successful.

- since there is no intellectual difference between sexes, Her IQ does not differ even if she is conflicted about her gender identity.

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Christine's father did not support her conflict in gender identity. He believed it was a phase she was going through. Christine began feeling excluded from her brother and father as she got older. Therefore Christine's "behavior" negatively affected her relationship with her father.

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NS- sex play involving females

UCS- kissing the older neighborhood girl

UCR- positive feelings toward this group of people

CS- someone explaining what that action means

CR- Chris exploring her sexuality

(Coon et al., 2019, p.196)

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Christine's conflict in gender identity earned her acceptance from her mother. When her parents divorced, she continued to live with her mother, which goes on to further prove her acceptance of Christine. Therefore, Christine's "behavior" earned her positive reinforcement from her mother.

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Children’s and adolescents’ evaluations of peers who challenge their group: The role of gender norms and identity. 

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Children’s and adolescents’ evaluations of peers who challenge their group: The role of gender norms and identity. 

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-Christine not relating to her father and brother as she grows up
-her mother being more accepting
(McGuire et al., 2021)

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Regarding gender identity, Christine incorporates her sex and gender into her behavior, attitudes, and self-understanding. For example, Chris used the masculine pronoun
-Based on her moods and behaviors, Chris considered herself like men. (Slavin & Slaughter, 2023)

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Christine has a crisis when her physical anatomy does not meet the expectation of how she perceives herself.

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Social norms:
- “Acceptable and expected behavior for members of various groups” (Coon et al., 2019, p. 27)

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-Chris grew up as a girl and was expected to act a certain way, by herself and with others.

-When she started feeling different and more masculine, she didn't know what to do with those feelings

-She had a crisis when her physical body followed normal expectations, but her emotional one didn't

(Coon et al., 2019)

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“In addition, even disturbing personality patterns may be linked to hormonal irregularities.” (Coon et al., 2019,  p. 77)

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The ability to control behavior is closely connected with the prefrontal cortex. Brain development is partly owned by genetics, environment, and actions. Christine might have been influenced by the things in her background, which caused her to feel uncomfortable using the girl’s restroom. (Coon et al., 2019, p. 80)

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- She used the nickname "Morty" to appear more masculine

- The onset of puberty was difficult with menstruation and breast development

- She used a binder to conceal her breasts

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- She was well-adjusted and successful academically and socially

- Her parents had been aware of her gender dysphoria since her senior year of high school

- Her mother accepted her, but her father insisted it was a phase

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Coon, D., Mitterer, J.O., & Martini, T.S. (2019). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior (15th ed.). Cengage

McGuire, L., Palmer, S. B., & Rutland, A. (2021). Children’s and adolescents’ evaluations of peers who challenge their group: The role of gender norms and identity. Social Development, 31(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12546

Slavin, L. A., & Slaughter, V. (2023). Gender identity formation. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health. https://online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=PBH_0269

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- She was uncomfortable with gender-specific roles and behaviors

- She was sexually attracted to girls rather than boys at a young age

- She felt excluded from her family as she got older

- She was the oldest of four children