The DMS-5 classifies gender dysphoria as people whose gender at birth is contrary to the one they identify with. This diagnosis is a revising of the DSM-IV which previously classified the disorder as Gender Identity Disorder.
A biological explanation is that dysphoria has an origin in prenatal hormonal abnormalities. This is argued to lead to lower than typical activity levels in boys and high activity levels in girls. A biosocial element is added to the explanation as, it is suggested that less than usually active boys and more than usually active girls will not fit in with peers and their gender group leading to dysphoria.
Another biological approach suggests a mismatch between hormones and genetic sex on individuals. Androgen Insensitivity syndrome (AIS) and congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) may result in intersex individuals due to prenatal surges in hormones causing external genitalia not to match the genetic sex. Resulting in them being mislabelled as the wrong gender. This may then display as gender dysphoria in individual during later life as their biological identity conflicts with their socially assigned gender.
Brain-sex theory proposes transsexual brains may not match their genetic gender. The BSTc in heterosexual men is twice as big as in heterosexual women, containing double the neurons. Zhou et al found male to female transsexuals had the same number of neurons in the BSTc as females. Also the number of neurons in the BSTc of female to male transsexuals was similar to the male range, suggesting a correlational link. Therefore suggesting a biological cause for gender dysphoria. However, correlational results do not indicate cause and effect. It cannot be concluded whether the BSTc caused the dysphoria or was a symptom of it.
Chung et al noted differences in the BSTc between males and females only developed in adulthood. However, feelings of dysphoria often appeared in early childhood, discrediting brain-sex theory as the BSTc may not be a cause but is a symptom of gender dysphoria. Therefore weakening the argument for a purely biological explanation for gender dysphoria suggesting biological links may be symptoms and not causes.
A psychological explanation could also suggest how dysphoria may develop. It is suggested parents that give their children more attention when behaving in non-gender typical ways, which encourages such behaviour to continue through the processes of operant conditioning. However, such psychosocial approaches have little supporting them as with research it is difficult to isolate a cause. Therefore research lacks reliability and validity. Therefore conclusive supporting evidence cannot be drawn regarding its influence on the development of gender dysphoria. Biological explanations suffer similar issues as the is no clear biological determinant causing the dysphoria. Therefore a biosocial approach may be more appropriate in drawing a more conclusive conclusion to the cause of gender dysphoria.
Theories into gender dysphoria are reductionist and oversimplify a complex disorder being explained through biological or psychological factors. Such explanations cannot explain why individuals with similar traits may not experience the disorder. Therefore a biosocial approach in principle may have an advantage of a purely biological or psychological explanation as it appears that dysphoria is caused by an interaction between the two. However, the extent to which these two factors work together is difficult to determine therefore such an approach has been criticised.
Socially sensitive issues are raised in research due to possible social implications. If the cause is biological it may help society to be more accepting as it is seen as due to genes and not by choice. If evidence suggests a psychological cause, such individuals may face further discrimination as they are seen to 'choose' this behaviour and deviating from what is socially acceptable. Psychological explanations may also result in those with dysphoria being treated as 'sick' which raises severe ethical issues as gender identity cannot be forced upon individuals. However, through research we can gain wider knowledge of what 'gender' really means.
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