Theories and Therapeutic Approaches: Overview

The scientific study of the psychology of gender had its beginnings in the last quarter of the 20th century, and since that time, it has been a very active area of scientific inquiry. Gender psychology encompasses many fields and subfields within psychology as well as various other academic disciplines. Psychology is defined as the study of cognition and (related) behavior. Gender refers to the biological, behavioral, cognitive, sociocultural, and/or psychological characteristics that influence one’s sense of being female, male, or androgynous/other. This treatment of the psychology of gender touches on the previously outlined aspects of psychology and gender and explores the evolutionary, psychoanalytic, humanist, feminist, intersectional, and other various theories and therapeutic approaches to the psychology of gender. This is followed by a brief consideration ...