John William Money 8 July β 7 July was a New Zealand psychologist , sexologist and author known for his research into sexual identity and biology of gender and his conduct towards vulnerable patients. He was one of the first researchers to publish theories on the influence of societal constructs of gender on individual formation of gender identity.
Money introduced the terms gender identity , gender role and sexual orientation and popularised the term paraphilia. Recent academic studies have criticized Money's work in many respects, particularly in regard to his involvement with the involuntary sex-reassignment of the child David Reimer , [3] his forcing this child and his brother to simulate sex acts which Money photographed [4] and the adult suicides of both brothers. Money's writing has been translated into many languages and includes around 2, articles, books, chapters and reviews.
He received around 65 honors, awards and degrees in his lifetime. Money was a junior member of the psychology faculty at the University of Otago in Dunedin. Author Janet Frame attended some of Money's classes at the University of Otago as part of her teacher training.
In October , after Frame wrote an essay mentioning her thoughts of suicide, [10] John Money facilitated Frame's committal to the psychiatric ward at Dunedin Public Hospital, leading to eight years in psychiatric institutions. In , at the age of 26, he emigrated to the United States to study at the Psychiatric Institute of the University of Pittsburgh. He was married briefly in the s but had no children.
He popularized the term paraphilia appearing in the DSM-III , which would later replace perversions and introduced the term sexual orientation in place of sexual preference , arguing that attraction is not necessarily a matter of free choice. Money was a professor of pediatrics and medical psychology at Johns Hopkins University from until his death.
