Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine transprejudice of college students from mainland China. Moreover, this study allowed us to determine if gender self-esteem, which may contribute to transprejudice in Western countries or individualistic societies, is also a significant contributor to transprejudice in mainland China, or a collectivistic society. We explored possible gender differences in transprejudice, and possible differences in prejudice towards transwomen and transmen. Additionally, we used Social Identity Theory to examine the possible relationship between gender self-esteem and transprejudice. Hypotheses were as follows: 1) heterosexual men would endorse more transprejudice than heterosexual women; 2) heterosexual men and women would report more prejudice against transwomen than transmen; and 3) heterosexual men who endorse higher levels of gender self-esteem would endorse more transprejudice, whereas heterosexual women's transprejudice would not be related to their gender self-esteem. The final sample consisted of 148 college students from mainland China. Participants completed the Chinese versions of the Genderism and Transphobia Scale, the Collective Self-Esteem Scale, the Social Desirability-17 Scale, and the demographic questionnaire. The results demonstrated that men reported more transprejudice than women. Moreover, women reported more violence towards, teasing of, and discomfort with transwomen than transmen. Men also reported more teasing of and discomfort with transwomen than transmen, but men's violence rating did not discriminate significantly between transwomen and transmen. Furthermore, gender self-esteem was not a predictor of transprejudice for men or for women. Because so far no research on transprejudice has been conducted on samples from mainland China, this study may contribute to the literature of transprejudice in China and to the cross-cultural research on transprejudice. This study may also contribute to the awareness of what factors can affect Chinese people's prejudice and violence against transpeople, which in turn can lead to more effective interventions to decrease transprejudice in mainland China.

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