Abstract
Gender Identity Disorder in Childhood (GIDC) and Separation Anxiety Disorder have been found to be co-morbid for boys in Western populations. In a Samoan cultural context, fa’afafine are defined as androphilic males (i.e., biological males who are sexually attracted to and aroused by adult males) who are effeminate or transgendered and occupy an “alternative” gender role category, which is distinct from the gender normative categories of “man” and “woman.” Because some Western clinicians would likely conclude that many of the fa’afafine had GIDC, we examined whether adult fa’afafine would also recall traits indicative of elevated separation anxiety in childhood. Given this, the present study compared retrospective reports of childhood separation anxiety for Samoan men, women, and fa’afafine. Our results indicated that Samoan fa’afafine recalled significantly more separation anxiety in childhood compared to Samoan men and women. These findings, coupled with research on U.S. and Canadian boys with GIDC, suggest that separation anxiety in childhood may represent a universal pattern of psychosexual development shared by most gender-atypical, androphilic males, regardless of their cultural milieu. As such, this study adds to a growing body of literature that documents the existence of cross-culturally invariant behavioral and psychological traits in male androphiles.
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Notes
The word “sex” is commonly used to refer to an individual’s biological status as male or female. In contrast, “gender” commonly refers to the social roles expected for males and females within a given culture.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Resitara Apa, Peniamina Tolovaa Fagai, Vester Fido Collins, Liulauulu Faaleolea Ah Fook, Laura Fraser, Vaasatia Poloma Komiti, Anita Latai, Tyrone Laurenson, Jeannette Mageo, Isaako Mailei, Gaualofa Matalavea, Nella Tavita-Levy, David Pocock, Palanitina Toelupe, Trisha Tuiloma, Avalogo Togi A. Tunupopo, the Kuka family of Savai’i, the National University of Samoa, the Samoan AIDS Foundation, the National University of Samoa, the Government of Samoa, the Editor, and two anonymous referees. We are grateful to all of the individuals who agreed to participate in our study. We extend special thanks to Alatina Ioelu without whose help this study would not have been possible. PLV was supported by the University of Lethbridge and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada Discovery Grant. DPV was supported by an NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship-D3 and a Sigma Xi Grant in Aid of Research. LMG was supported by an Alberta Chinook Summer Research Award. NHB was supported by Mount Saint Vincent University.
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Vasey, P.L., VanderLaan, D.P., Gothreau, L.M. et al. Traits of Separation Anxiety in Childhood: A Retrospective Study of Samoan Men, Women, and Fa’afafine . Arch Sex Behav 40, 511–517 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-009-9589-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-009-9589-0