The Social Construction of Gender Identity: A Qualitative Study Using Grounded Theory in the City of Bojnourd

Abstract
This research aims to provide a sociological understanding of gender identity disorder, by analyzing the lived experience and understanding the perceptions of social actors regarding this phenomenon in the city of Bojnourd. The present study was conducted using a qualitative method and a grounded theory approach. From a systematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 16 individuals with gender identity disorder and experts in this field, 101 subcategories, 20 main categories, and finally, based on selective coding, the central phenomenon was formulated in the form of "attempting to gain identity legitimacy in the dominant gender order" using the Strauss and Corbin approach. The central phenomenon influenced by causal conditions includes: "visibility of gender difference", "labeling", "gender change as a social reaction", "early rejection and internalization of the social gaze", "accumulation of social pressure and reaching a breaking point", and "medicalization of difference". And contextual conditions include: "the city as a social context shaping the experience of identity", "strict gender norms and social dualization", "kinship relations and informal networks", "linking cultural context with family experience" and "limited support resources and lack of safe spaces". And the intervening conditions include: "family", "official institutions", "administrative bureaucracy", "fear of social judgment and maintaining reputation" and "institutional stigma", which lead to consequences such as: "relative identity coherence", "persistence or transformation of social stigma" and "social exhaustion". In response to these conditions, people with gender identity disorder adopt behavioral strategies: "identity concealment," "forced adaptation," "search for meaning," and ultimately "gender change."