Research Paper Example: Gender Identity and Levels of Testosterone

Testosterone has been observed to have an effect of a person’s gender identity (Ristori, 2020). During the adolescent period when hormones fluctuate, adolescent self-identified males produce more testosterone than adolescent self-identified females (Rivas, 2014). Some individuals on the other hand who undergo hormone therapy to either change their gender to fit their gender identity always undergo testosterone treatment or reduction (Vrouenraets, 2015). This study is aimed to test how levels of testosterone in individuals who have never undergone hormone treatment for whatever reason would identify as, by attempting to see if there is a link between the levels of testosterone in an individual, and their gender identity.

Importance

The importance of this research is to identify the link between testosterone, and how it would affect a person’s gender identity. This would give more insight as to why some individuals might not feel that their assigned birth gender is correct for them.

Research Question: How do levels of testosterone come into play of an individual’s gender identity?  

Objective 

The key objective of this proposal is looking into how levels of testosterone hormones in a person could influence the gender identity of that individual. Levels of testosterone differ by gender, with self-identified males having more testosterone than self-identified females (Vrouenraets, 2015). Since levels of testosterone differ depending on a person’s birth gender, we expect to see a correlation between gender identity, and testosterone levels. 

Design Preference 

To collect data, individuals would be tested using blood samples to test for their levels of testosterone. There would be an initial questionnaire to pick out individuals that are viable for the study. There would be three tests, a questionnaire to pick out the participants, a urinary sample test which is needed before the blood test can begin, and a blood test. 

Rationale for Design  

The basis for the choice of a blood test sample is quite simple. There are actually several other ways to test for testosterone, like urinary test but, there is an issue with using urinary tests as the experiment’s main test. Urinary tests are used mostly to test artificial testosterone like steroids or on new borns whose urinary levels of testosterone levels off after a few months of their birth (Handelsman, 2018). A blood test although scary to some, tests naturally flowing levels of testosterone in the body, making it far more accurate to use for this experiment (Fisher, 2014). Although a urinary test would be used to narrow the subjects down to those with natural testosterone levels. 

Methods

Sample group 

Sample group would include as many participants as we could possibly get for the experiment but with a maximum number of 50 participants due to expenses. If expenses were covered, and funding available, the number of participants could be as many as 100. That way, there would be a more accurate representation for the results which can then be used to generalise the result far beyond just the sample size tested. 

Participants

The participants would be individuals between the ages of 19 to 40. The reason for picking participants within age 19 to 40 is because younger individuals below 19 years of age are still growing which tends to fluctuate their levels of testosterone, and that is not what we want, we want participants with a stable testosterone level. Individuals above 40 are not included because testosterone begins to fluctuate again during that age (Rivas, 2014).

Participant recruitment

Fliers would be used as a method to recruit participants. A college is the best place to recruit these participants thanks to the age range in a college environment matching the age range needed for the participants. Students in college are also more likely to want to be involved in a study, especially science, and psychology students.

Exclusion

The following individuals would be excluded from the experiment;

Younger than 19

Older than 40

Illiterate

Individuals who underwent gender reassignment

Mentally retarded

Individuals undergoing hormone therapy

Inter-sex individuals

Procedure

To start off the test, there would be a pretest. This pretest is to remove individuals with traces of artificial testosterone in their system. This pretest would be done through urinary sampling. When traces of testosterone are found in the urine, it is a sign of steroid consumption, which if unnoticed, disrupts the actual result of the test (Handelsman, 2018). After the pretest, blood samples will be collected from the participants. Each blood samples will then be measured for the level of testosterone present in the individuals. After testing for testosterone levels, individuals would then be given a questionnaire (this questionnaire could be done before or after the blood test) to scale themselves on how strongly they identify as male or female on a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 being very strongly, and with 0 being not at all. After the questionnaire, the results of both the blood test and questionnaire would then be compared to one another on how they correlate. This would conclude the test.

Potential harm to participants 

Since the experiment would involve blood samples, the participants would experience a prickle pain. This should not potentially harm the participants but, it is considered, and would be explained clearly to the participants before the experiment begins. 

Issues to consider

There is an issue with the validity of the result. People who have a very active lifestyle have on average, higher levels of testosterone (Kumagi, 2016). This would be considered as a second question in the questionnaire as “How active are you?”. But, people tend not to give an accurate answer when it comes to their physical activity, regardless, it would be considered for a more accurate result.  

Expected Results

After the tests, questionnaires, and correlation are compared, we expect a direct correlation between testosterone levels, and gender identity. We expect that individuals with higher levels of testosterone to strongly identify as males, and individuals with lower levels of testosterone to strongly identify as female.

In conclusion, we expect our findings to be in line with our hypothesis. We expect self-identified males to have higher levels of testosterone in their blood than self-identified females. We also expect a few outliers due to many things we might not have currently understood enough to consider in the research.

References

Fisher, A. D., Castellini, G., et al. (2014). Cross-sex hormonal treatment and body uneasiness in individuals with gender dysphoria. The journal of sexual medicine, 11(3), 709–719. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1743609515307050?via%3Dihub

Handelsman, D. J., Hirschberg, A. L., et al. (2018). Circulating Testosterone as the Hormonal Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance. Endocrine reviews, 39(5), 803–829. https://doi.org/10.1210/er.2018-00020

Kumagai, H., Zempo-Miyaki, A., et al. (2016). Increased physical activity has a greater effect than reduced energy intake on lifestyle modification-induced increases in testosterone. Journal of clinical biochemistry and nutrition, 58(1), 84–89. https://doi.org/10.3164/jcbn.15-48 

Ristori, J., Cocchetti, C., et al. (2020). Brain sex differences related to gender identity development: Genes or hormones? International journal of molecular sciences, 21(6), 2123. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21062123

Rivas, A. M., Mulkey, Z., Lado-Abeal, J., et al. (2014). Diagnosing and managing low serum testosterone. Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center), 27(4), 321–324. https://doi.org/10.1080/08998280.2014.11929145 

Vrouenraets, L. J., Fredriks, A. M., et al. (2015). Early medical treatment of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria: An Empirical Ethical Study. The journal of adolescent health: official publication of the society for adolescent medicine, 57(4), 367–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.04.004.