Gender identification as a subjective, social and psychological reality in the period of adulthood

Abstract

The article deals with a holistic analysis of the problem of gender identification as a subjective, social and psychological reality in the period of adulthood. In the context of the personal-egalitarian paradigm it is stated that sex-role identification is the leading mechanism of gender identity as a process and results of motivational and value dispositions of the person during period of adulthood. Gender identification plays an important role in the formation of gender self-consciousness of a person, in formation of her/his self-image, and acquiring the requirements for gender-role behavior. Gender identity characterized as being marked by awareness of gender-role cultural standards as well as social and psychological instructions, accepting the traditional or egalitarian modes of behavior, formation of ego-structures in the continuum of masculinity and femininity, by representation of the individual experience of self-knowledge and attitudes to evaluating oneself and others, by agreement and balancing between the real and ideal gender Self. The author’s model of sex-role identification of personality in adulthood is shown. The content of psychological mechanisms and the patterns of functioning of personal gender identity as a subjective, social and psychological reality in adulthood in the context of humanistic, genetic and cognitive psychology are defined. Masculinity and femininity as individual’s attributes are the basic categories in the analysis of sex-role «I» formation. In addition, gender orientations (traditional or egalitarian) are important indicators of individual’s self-identification. Although the practical aspect of the gender identity question is quite «open», however it has a profound inner layer, as it encompasses a lot of unrevealed psychological mechanisms of personal and spiritual development of a human.