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Gender Differences in Correlates of Homophobia and Transphobia

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Abstract

A scale of prejudice against transgender individuals was developed, validated, and contrasted with a homophobia measure in 153 female and 157 male US college undergraduates. For both sexes, transphobia and homophobia were highly correlated with each other and with right-wing authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, and hostile sexism, but aggression proneness was predictive of transphobia and homophobia only in men. Benevolent sexism and rape myth acceptance were more predictive of transphobia and homophobia in women than men. With homophobia partialled out, authoritarianism, fundamentalism, and aggression proneness no longer predicted transphobia for men, but authoritarianism, fundamentalism, benevolent sexism, and rape myth acceptance continued to predict transphobia in women. Discussion focused on gender differences in issues that drive prejudice against transgender and homosexual individuals.

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Acknowledgment

We’d like to thank Kate Bornstein for her ideas, inspiration, and encouragement of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA

    Julie L. Nagoshi & Stephanie Brzuzy

  2. Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA

    Katherine A. Adams, Heather K. Terrell, Eric D. Hill & Craig T. Nagoshi

  3. Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Box 871104, Tempe, AZ, 85287-1104, USA

    Craig T. Nagoshi

Authors
  1. Julie L. Nagoshi
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  2. Katherine A. Adams
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  3. Heather K. Terrell
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  4. Eric D. Hill
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  5. Stephanie Brzuzy
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  6. Craig T. Nagoshi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Craig T. Nagoshi.

Appendix 1. Items for the Transphobia Scale

Appendix 1. Items for the Transphobia Scale

  1. 1.

    I don’t like it when someone is flirting with me, and I can’t tell if they are a man or a woman.

  2. 2.

    I think there is something wrong with a person who says that they are neither a man nor a woman.

  3. 3.

    I would be upset, if someone I’d known a long time revealed to me that they used to be another gender.

  4. 4.

    I avoid people on the street whose gender is unclear to me.

  5. 5.

    When I meet someone, it is important for me to be able to identify them as a man or a woman.

  6. 6.

    I believe that the male/female dichotomy is natural.

  7. 7.

    I am uncomfortable around people who don’t conform to traditional gender roles, e.g., aggressive women or emotional men.

  8. 8.

    I believe that a person can never change their gender.

  9. 9.

    A person’s genitalia define what gender they are, e.g., a penis defines a person as being a man, a vagina defines a person as being a woman.

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Nagoshi, J.L., Adams, K.A., Terrell, H.K. et al. Gender Differences in Correlates of Homophobia and Transphobia. Sex Roles 59, 521–531 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9458-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9458-7

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