The ego development of 22 postoperative
female-to-male transsexuals and their spouses or lovers with whom they had
been living for a year or more was investigated. The transsexuals, their
spouses, and a control group of 22 couples were administered the Washington
University Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development, a projective measure
of ego functioning. Ego development refers to the framework of meaning that
the individual brings to an experience.
The construct of ego development
incorporates a series of sequential stages that integrate various frames of
reference including cognitive style, interpersonal style, conscious
preoccupation, and impulse control. These processes have received little
attention in studies on female-to-male transsexuals who have successfully
negotiated the social barrier of cross-living to the extent that they are
living the male role in a heterosexual relationship.
No significant differences in the
distribution of ego development scores were found between the transsexuals
and the control males, or between the transsexuals' spouses and the control
spouses. Over 93% of the transsexuals and their spouses scored above the
conformist level of ego development. These findings are discussed in terms
of some of the previous literature on conformist thinking by transsexuals.
Citation:
J Med Ethics 1980 Jun;6(2):85-9 an article published on the Internet by
PubMed <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/>
