Transphobic Behavior among Straight Cisgender Men and the Threat of Sexual Attraction towards Trans Women
Creators: name: Beiman, Maya
name: Shechter, Anat
Publisher: name: Open Science Framework
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Social Psychology
subject: Social and Behavioral Sciences
subject: Psychology
subject: FOS: Psychology

description: Background and Purpose Studies have shown that sexual attraction towards a certain group or sexual activity with the same can correlate with or elicit negative attitudes or behavior towards the group. In the sexual orientation context, an example of this phenomenon is internalized homophobia among men who have sex with men due to fear of a negative response to their sexual orientation (Ross &amp; Rosser, 1996). Internalized homophobia was also associated with a low rate of self-disclosure of one's sexual identity. In the context of gender, research has shown for example that straight men who have sex with transwomen tend to disassociate between gender and sexual arousal (Weinberg &amp; Williams, 2010). A more specific finding relevant to our research is the association between the level of straight cisgender men’s shame of their sexual attraction to transwomen, and the level of explicit prejudice towards transwomen they exhibited: “analysis revealed an unhypothesized direct influence of sexual shame on attitudes toward transgender people such that higher levels of shame were associated with greater prejudice” (Billard, 2019). The evidence mentioned above suggests that a feeling of attraction to trans women can threaten straight men, and therefore trigger – both explicitly and implicitly – a negative attitude towards trans women (transphobia). In this study, we plan to build on these findings, by examining both implicitly and explicitly if, when the threat of sexual attraction is triggered, straight men attracted to transwomen will exhibit negative attitudes towards the latter. Our theoretical independent variable is “the threat of sexual attraction of transwomen” and our dependent variable is “transphobic attitudes (negative attitudes towards trans women)”. Our hypothesis is that the presence of threat of sexual attraction towards trans women will evoke more negative attitudes towards them. Novel aspects of our research: while previous research was conducted on straight men who watch pornography featuring trans people, which might be likely to elicit negative emotions such as shame, our study will examine the effects of the threat of attraction to trans women in the general population of straight men (not limited to those who watch trans pornography). In addition, the context of pornography might account for some of the negative attitudes towards trans women, provided that subjects in previous studies were only exposed to them via pornography, which is often objectifying and dehumanizing (Billard, 2019). Finally, previous studies focused on transphobia towards trans people in general, while our research is focused on straight men and their attraction to trans women, specifically. Stimuli: Images of transgender women were found via Instagram; photos were uploaded by transgender women and tagged as “transwoman” or “transgender woman”. Written consent was given by said women to make use of their photos in our study – 6 photos. Images of cisgender women were found via our acquaintances, who are cisgender women, and provided free-to-use pictures, with written consent to make use of them in our study – 5 photos. Link to photos (arranged in folders by cis/trans and manner of procurement): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IvZWmxbOWDzYEIc1oEleM4r7__ij9Eo1 Procedure Overview Each Participant will be asked to rank the perceived level of attractiveness of 30 women, on a scale of 1-7. Unbeknownst to them, most of those women will be transgender (assigned male at birth). Participants will be requested to perform a filler task with questions about social media (see section D for a more detailed account). Participants will then be split into two groups: This group will be informed that most women shown were transgender (assigned male at birth). (Control Group) This group will not be informed of anything. Participants will receive general information about the definitions of the terms “transgender woman” and “cisgender woman”. Each participant will answer a self-reported ATTW questionnaire in order to assess the level of transphobia they exhibit, as well as an image based IAT task with transgender women/cisgender women, good/bad as the categories. The order of the GTS and IAT will be randomized equally between participants for counterbalance. At the end of the experiment, participants will be asked how they felt about rating the attractiveness of women: “Rating the attractiveness of women made me feel happy, sad, angry, anxious, proud, ashamed, disgusted, surprised, amused” - up to two of the above. Participants will be excluded if they fail to complete any part of the experiment. Participants who answer more than 10% of trials faster than 300 ms on the IAT will be excluded (Nosek, 2007). Participants who report themselves as being anything but cisgender, heterosexual men will also be excluded. To achieve 95% power to detect a medium-size effect (cohen's d=0.3) in an independent samples t-test, we will recruit 580 participants. We additionally plan to conduct exploratory analyses pertaining to the possible interaction between attractiveness ratings and negative attitudes towards trans women. Step by Step Plan Participants will first be requested to consent to participate in the experiment and be given several details about the duration of the experiment and contact information. Welcome screen, where the following text will be presented to participants: “In this study, you will rate some pictures, complete a categorization task, and answer a few questions. This study should take about 15 minutes to complete. At the end, you will receive your results along with information about what it means. We thank you for being here! Many people may be tempted to visit other web pages while taking the study. If a lot of people browse other pages or do other things during the study, the study's data won't be usable. However, our research depends on good quality data. So, please make sure you are willing to sit through the study before starting it. If you would like to participate, please type this exact sentence into the box below: "I will complete this study with my full attention." and press "Submit".” Attractiveness measurement: “In the first task, we will show you pictures of women. Please rate how attractive you find each woman to be, on a scale of 1 (extremely unattractive) to 7 (extremely attractive). Try to answer as quickly and accurately as possible. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. We are interested in your honest judgment". Filler task: “Next we are going to ask you some questions about your social media use. Remember, there are no correct or incorrect answers to the questions. We are interested in your genuine thoughts and feelings.” Which social media platform is your favorite? Facebook Instagram Snapchat Twitter TikTok Pinterest How often do you post on social media? Multiple times a day Once daily Once a week A few times a month Only on special occasions How many selfies have you posted in the last month? None One Two Three Four or more How do you caption your photos? With a quote With emojis With a pun With hashtags With a joke I don’t How often do you read news on social media? Multiple times a day Once daily Once a week A few times a month Only on special occasions How much time do you spend on social media daily? I don’t use social media One hour or less Between 1-2 hours More than two hours How often do you argue on social media? Every day A few times a week A few times a month Rarely I don’t argue on social media Do you delete social media posts? Yes, everything posted a few years ago Yes, only problematic posts Never Group A manipulation: "Please note that most of the women shown in the rating task were transgender (assigned male at birth). Control Group: No information. General information: “Before you proceed to the next tasks, we want to make you sure you are familiar with the terms "a transgender woman" and "a cisgender woman". A transgender woman is someone who lives her life as a woman, but was assigned male at birth (and transitioned socially and/or medically from male to female). A cisgender woman is someone who lives her life as a woman, and was also assigned female at birth.” ATTW questionnaire: “In the next task you will fill a short questionnaire about your thoughts and feeling regarding transgender women. Remember, there are no correct or incorrect answers to the questions. We are interested in your genuine thoughts and feelings.” See part E below for a detailed account. IAT: See detailed account below. Instructions on screen: “The next task is the Implicit Association Test (IAT). In this categorization task, you will see words and images related to transgender women and cisgender women, presented one at a time at the center of the screen. The categories will be presented at the top-right and top-left corners of the screen. For each word or image, if it belongs to a category on the right, hit the key I, and if it belongs to a category on the left, hit the key E.” Questionnaire on how rating attractiveness made participants feel: “You are almost done, we have a few more questions for you. We will soon show you your feedback. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers, please respond honestly.” “Please complete the statement below by choosing exactly two items from the list.” Rating the attractiveness of women made me feel: Happy Sad Angry Anxious Proud Ashamed Disgusted Surprised Amused Personal information questionnaire: “Please describe yourself by choosing the most suitable option for you:” Sex at birth: Male Female I prefer not to respond Other Raised as a: Boy Girl I prefer not to respond Other Current gender: Man Woman Transman Transwoman Transgender Genderqueer I prefer not to respond Other Sexual orientation: Exclusively straight Mostly straight Bisexual Mostly gay/lesbian Exclusively gay/lesbian Pansexual Asexual I prefer not to respond Other Self – Reported questionnaire- ATTW: The term “transgender woman” is used to describe people who were identified as male at the time of their birth but who currently live their daily lives as women. In the next questionnaire, please indicate how you respond to the following statements using the 7-point scale from 1 - strongly disagree to 7 - strongly agree. There are no right or wrong answers. Strongly Disagree Disagree Somewhat Disagree Neutral Somewhat Agree Agree Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Circle the number that best indicates how you feel. Transgender women will never really be women 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Transgender women are only able to look like women, but not be women 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Transgender women are not really women 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Transgender women are trying to be someone they are not 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Transgender women are unnatural 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Transgender women don’t really understand what it means to be a woman 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Transgender women cannot just “identify” as women 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Transgender women are unable to accept who they really are 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Transgender women only think they are women 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Transgender women are defying nature 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Transgender women are denying their DNA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 There is something unique about being a woman that transgender women can never experience 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ATTW - Attitudes Toward Transgender Women subscale (Billard, 2018) The 12 items of the Attitudes Toward Transgender women (ATTW) subscale were tested for reliability (α = .97, ωh = .93). Items were rotated randomly to minimize potential order effects in participant’s responses. Higher scores indicate greater anti-transgender prejudice, while lower scores indicate less prejudice. Image based IAT measure: The IAT will include training and 7 blocks. Stimuli and Attributes are assigned to either Cisgender/Transgender categories with counterbalanced Good words/Bad words (Axt et al., 2020). Training: Explanations in parentheses about the meaning of “cisgender” and “transgender”: Cisgender women (a cisgender woman is someone who identifies as a woman and was identified as female at birth) Transgender women (a transgender woman is a someone who was assigned male at birth and transitioned medically and/or hormonally and/or socially to a woman). assigning images to Cisgender women/Transgender women categories, 24 trials. Block 1: assigning images to Cisgender women/Transgender women categories, 20 trials. Block 2: assigning words to Good words/Bad words categories, 20 trials. Block 3: assigning words &amp; images to Transgender women + Bad words / Cisgender women + Good words, 20 trials. Block 4: assigning words &amp; images to Transgender women+ Bad words / Cisgender women + Good words, 40 trials. Block 5: assigning images to Cisgender women/Transgender women categories, 28 trials. Block 6: assigning words &amp; images to Cisgender women + Bad words / Transgender women + Good words, 20 trials. Block 7: assigning words &amp; images to Cisgender women+ Bad words / Transgender women + Good words, 40 trials. Attributes: Good Words: Nice, Pleasure, Laughter, Glorious Bad Words: Nasty, Agony, Hurt, Rotten Stimuli: Image Stimuli for IAT: matched on race, approximate age and popularity. Cis stimuli: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fwbFW12RHOFlI_pDxKh-1FptjtEvntTj Trans stimuli: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17FhUl2yjI28VwkQu39kHwpm38z-Zat6m References Axt, J. R., Conway, M. A., Westgate, E. C., &amp; Buttrick, N. R. (2020). Implicit transgender attitudes independently predict beliefs about gender and transgender people. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 0146167220921065. Billard, T. J. (2018). Attitudes toward transgender men and women: Development and validation of a new measure. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 387.‏ Billard, Thomas J. (2019) (No) Shame in the Game: The Influence of Pornography Viewing on Attitudes Toward Transgender People, Communication Research Reports, 36:1, 45-56, DOI: 10.1080/08824096.2018.1549539 Hill, D. B., &amp; Willoughby, B. L. (2005). The development and validation of the genderism and transphobia scale. Sex roles, 53(7), 531-544.‏ Nosek, B. A. (2007). Implicit–explicit relations. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 65-69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j. 1467-8721.2007.00477.x Ross, M. W., Rosser, B.R. (1996). Measurements and correlates of internalized homophobia: A factor analytic study. Psycho dynamics and Paychopathology, 52:1, 15-21 Weinberg, Martin S. &amp; Williams, Colin J. (2010) Men Sexually Interested in Transwomen (MSTW): Gendered Embodiment and the Construction of Sexual Desire, The Journal of Sex Research, 47:4, 374-383, DOI: 10.1080/00224490903050568