Degree Year
2018
Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Psychology
Advisor(s)
Cynthia McPherson Frantz
Keywords
Transgender, Gender nonconformity, Stereotype content model, Prejudice, Social psychology, Cognitive psychology, Stereotypes
Abstract
A recent increase in transgender visibility has highlighted gaps in the social psychology literature about attitudes and biases. There is a relatively large body of literature that examines people’s reactions to gender role violation, but little that examines reactions to gendered trait violation. To assess negative attitudes towards transgender and gender nonconforming people, this experiment asked participants to make attitude judgements (warmth and competence) about a series of gender stereotypic and counterstereotypic face-voice pairs. This procedure was based on the paradigm used to construct the Stereotype Content Model, which categorizes stereotypes/prejudice into four categories (paternalistic, contemptuous, envious, admirable). Participants also rated stimuli on gender using both a continuous (very masculine to very feminine) and categorical (male or female) scale. Overall, counterstereotypic face-voice combinations were rated less warm, but not necessarily less competent than stereotypic face-voice combinations. When plotted in the stereotype content model framework, stimuli that paralleled the gender cues of transfeminine people and non-male-passing transmasculine people were subject to contemptuous and envious prejudice respectively. This kind of prejudice is reflected in the discrimination that transgender people face, including their exclusion from employment and social welfare, as well as their position as a scapegoat for gender-based violence and other socio-political issues.
Repository Citation
Rosenblum, Ari M., "Gender Nonconformity and the Stereotype Content Model" (2018). Honors Papers. 173.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/honors/173
