Gender consciousness and gender identity centrality in transgender and cisgender individuals

This thesis examines the differences and similarities in gender identification between\ud individuals who identify as cisgender and those who identify as transgender. Surveys\ud (N = 208) and interviews (N = 10) were administered to separate samples of both\ud cisgender (those who feel that their gender identities and assigned sex are in accord)\ud and transgender participants in order to investigate whether gender identity is felt to\ud be a more central, defining aspect of one???s self in persons who have ???non-normative???\ud gender identities as compared to cisgender individuals. Cisgender individuals\ud reported less gender identity centrality and gender consciousness than their gendervariant\ud counterparts. As previous research has demonstrated positive correlations\ud between gender awareness and psychological well being, these findings highlight a\ud need for promotion of gender consciousness among cisgender individuals. The\ud findings of this study also have important implications for alleviating the stigma\ud associated with gender variance