Individual and Group Processes as Predictors of Transphobic Attitudes

This research investigated individual and group processes as predictors of transphobic attitudes among both females and males in northern part of Cyprus. Factors that were tested included the roles of contact, ambivalent sexism with its two components as hostile sexism and benevolent sexism, homophobia and social dominance orientation. The sample consisted of 148 (96 women, 51 men) Turkish speaking participants, aged between 18-25 years (M = 20.29, SD = 2.38). Participants completed self-report measures of intergroup contact, ambivalent sexism, homophobic attitudes and social dominance orientation, genderism and transphobia scale. Results of the study showed that transphobia was positively related with a benevolent and hostile sexism, homophobic attitudes, social dominance orientation and transphobia. As expected, transphobia was found to be negatively correlated with intergroup contact. In terms of gender difference, it was found that men‟s scores were higher than women in transphobia, hostile sexism, homophobia and social dominance whereas women‟s scores were significantly higher than men on intergroup contact. No significant differences between men and women were obtained for benevolent sexism. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that intergroup contact, hostile sexism and homophobia were all found to predict transphobic attitudes. In light of the findings, results were discussed in terms of reducing negative transphobic attitudes by developing intervention programs that can tackle homophobic attitudes and traditional gender ideologies in order to ameliorate discriminatory attitudes toward transgender individuals and improve their well-being.