HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Positive Psychology
Gender Euphoria Reimagined: Towards An Extended Theory of Trans-Identity
School of Social Sciences and Languages, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, Chennai, India
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Abstract
Introduction: The paper focuses on developing an Extended Theory of Trans-Identity integrating Nagoshi et al.’s (2013) Trans-Identity theory with creative expression of self to explore gender euphoric experiences. Method: Having explored Austin et al.’s (2022a) research on artistic expression of trans people, the paper attempts to explore creative manifestation of identity as an important aspect in trans identity formation, alongside Nagoshi et al.’s (2013) Trans-Identity theory. The synthesis of the four aspects, including physically embodied, self constructed, socially constructed and creative manifestation of the identified gender, culminates in an Extended Theory of Trans-Identity which leads to the attainment of gender euphoric factors given by Austin et al. (2022b) and Leitch et al. (2025). The theoretical framework is applied to I Am Vidya: A Transgender’s Journey (2013), the autobiography of Living Smile Vidya who is an eminent trans theatre artist and activist from Tamil Nadu, India. Furthermore, the use of a literary text in validating the Extended Theory comes from Schilling’s concepts of theory extrapolation from literature. The exemplifying textual analysis on the dynamic role of the four aspects of Trans-Identity in asserting transness and achieving gender euphoria attempts to substantiate the theory extension. Results: The results indicate that the identity construction through the creative aspect, in combination with the biopsychosocial aspects contribute to the utmost attainment of gender euphoria. Discussion: Thus, the paper formulates an extended version of the trans identity framework, emphasizing the inclusion of creativity in the gender affirmative journeys of trans people.
Summary
Keywords
artistic expression 2, gender euphoria 3, integration 4, theory extension 5, Transgender identities 1
Received
03 November 2025
Accepted
13 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 J and C. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Alamelu C
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