Transgender Experience of Romantic Relationship: The Transcendent Function and Buddhism's Middle Way

Abstract

This phenomenological study explored transgender individuals’ lived experiences of romantic relationship. This study utilized the concepts of Jung’s transcendent function and Buddhism’s middle way in order to articulate the transgender individuals’ felt experience of romantic relationships. Eight participants were interviewed and provided the research data, which was then examined in order to articulate and describe the experiences of the participants. This researcher found that most of this study’s participants pursued the fulfillment of their genuine gender individualities and participated in romantic relationships that are built on the full expression of their authentic gender identities. Additionally, many participants reported that their relationships were built around values such as support, negotiation, communication, and compromise. Further, multiple participants described the presence of the third, or in other words, the multiple or plural spectrum, via the ways of working through romantic relationship issues by forming contracts and an openness to co-create defined relationship boundaries. This research arrives at an understanding of the transgender romantic relationship and subsequently, human relationships through depth psychological understanding. The findings are discussed in connection to the themes provided by the participants: the personal evolution of their transgender experience, the experiences of living in a romantic relationship, and the experiences of the third. Further areas of depth psychological research, study, and clinical implications are also discussed.