Role Ambiguity and Role Conflict Among Partners of Trans People

Abstract

Experiences of family members are often overlooked in social research on gender transitions. The current article aims to address this gap by considering the experiences of partners during a gender transition, approaching this topic through role theory and the concepts of role ambiguity and role conflict. Seventeen partners and former partners were interviewed. First, we distinguished three different roles of partners during the transition: the co-parental role, the ally role and the romantic partner role. We found that ambiguity was most apparent for the romantic partner role. Second, we observed that the expectations which accompany these different roles often contradict each other during gender transition. This leads to role conflict. We discuss how this role conflict may influence the acceptance and adaptation process of the partner and steer certain relationship outcomes. In the discussion, we construct three types of adaptation processes of partners.