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Occupational Preferences and Recalled Childhood Sex-Atypical Behavior among Istmo Zapotec Men, Women, and Muxes

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Abstract

Research has found that both cisgender and transgender androphilic males (i.e., males sexually attracted to and aroused by other adult males) have female-typical occupational preferences when compared with gynephilic males (i.e., males sexually attracted to and aroused by adult females). Moreover, whereas cisgender androphilic males’ occupational preferences tend to be intermediate between those of gynephilic men and androphilic women, transgender androphilic males tend to have occupational preferences that are more similar to androphilic women. No study has directly compared both types of androphilic males within the same culture. The present study investigated occupational preference and its relation to childhood sex-atypical behavior (CSAB), among gynephilic men (n = 208), androphilic women (n = 138), and cisgender (n = 132) and transgender (n = 129) androphilic males from the Istmo region of Oaxaca, Mexico, where androphilic males are recognized as third gender, muxes. The study found large sex differences in occupational preferences (d = 2.80). Furthermore, both cisgender muxe nguiiu (d = 2.36) and transgender muxe gunaa (d = 3.44) reported having more sex-atypical occupational preferences compared with men. However, muxe gunaa reported higher female-typical occupational preferences than women (d = 0.59) and muxe nguiiu (d = 0.57), whereas muxe nguiiu and women did not differ (d = 0.08). These findings are consistent with the conclusion that sex-atypical occupational preferences are a cross-culturally universal aspect of male androphilia. Finally, CSAB was associated with sex-atypical occupational preferences among all participants. These findings suggest that a developmental continuity exists between childhood and adulthood sex-atypicality.

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Data Availability

Data are available publicly at Open Science Framework: DOI https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/KM7PZ; https://osf.io/km7pz/.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Julio Cesar Jiménez Rodríguez, Felina Santiago, and Dan Weeks, without whom this research would not be possible. This research was funded by the University of Lethbridge and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant of awarded to PLV.

Funding

This study was funded by a University of Lethbridge Research Fund Grant (institutional grant number 13261) and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant (institutional grant number 435-2017-0866) awarded to Dr. Paul L. Vasey.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada

    Francisco R. Gómez Jiménez & Paul L. Vasey

  2. GIGA Neurosciences, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Lucas Court

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  1. Francisco R. Gómez Jiménez
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Correspondence to Francisco R. Gómez Jiménez.

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Gómez Jiménez, F.R., Court, L. & Vasey, P.L. Occupational Preferences and Recalled Childhood Sex-Atypical Behavior among Istmo Zapotec Men, Women, and Muxes. Hum Nat 32, 729–747 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-021-09417-5

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