Skip to main content
Log in

Heterosexuals’ Attitudes Toward Transgender People: Findings from a National Probability Sample of U.S. Adults

Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Using data from a national probability sample of heterosexual U.S. adults (N = 2,281), the present study describes the distribution and correlates of men’s and women’s attitudes toward transgender people. Feeling thermometer ratings of transgender people were strongly correlated with attitudes toward gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals, but were significantly less favorable. Attitudes toward transgender people were more negative among heterosexual men than women. Negative attitudes were associated with endorsement of a binary conception of gender; higher levels of psychological authoritarianism, political conservatism, and anti-egalitarianism, and (for women) religiosity; and lack of personal contact with sexual minorities. In regression analysis, sexual prejudice accounted for much of the variance in transgender attitudes, but respondent gender, educational level, authoritarianism, anti-egalitarianism, and (for women) religiosity remained significant predictors with sexual prejudice statistically controlled. Implications and directions for future research on attitudes toward transgender people are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altemeyer, R. (1996). The authoritarian specter. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Association for Public Opinion Research. (2006). Standard definitions: Final dispositions of case codes and outcome rates for surveys (4th ed.). Lenexa, KS: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • American National Election Studies. (2011). Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Political Studies. Retrieved from American National Election Studies website: http://www.electionstudies.org/.

  • Auster, C. J., & Ohm, S. C. (2000). Masculinity and femininity in contemporary American society: A reevaluation using the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. Sex Roles, 43, 499–528. doi:10.1023/A:1007119516728.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155–162. doi:10.1037/h0036215.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, P. R. (2003). Values, political knowledge, and public opinion about gay rights: A framing-based account. Public Opinion Quarterly, 67, 173–201. doi:10.1086/374397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryant, K., & Schilt, K. (2008). Transgender people in the U.S. military: Summary and analysis of the 2008 transgender American Veterans Association survey. Retrieved from Palm Center website: http://www.palmcenter.org/node/1137.

  • Chang, L., & Krosnick, J. A. (2009). National surveys via RDD telephone interviewing versus the Internet: Comparing sample representativeness and response quality. Public Opinion Quarterly, 73, 641–678. doi:10.1093/poq/nfp075.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chauncey, G., Jr. (1982-1983). From sexual inversion to homosexuality: Medicine and the changing conceptualization of female deviance. Salmagundi, 58-59, 114-146

  • Couper, M. P., Tourangeau, R., & Kenyon, K. (2004). Picture this! Exploring visual effects in web surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly, 68, 255–266. doi:10.1093/poq/nfh013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duckitt, J. H. (1992). The social psychology of prejudice. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eagly, A. H., Makhijani, M. G., & Klonsky, B. G. (1992). Gender and the evaluation of leaders: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 3–22. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.111.1.3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fausto-Sterling, A. (2000). Sexing the body: Gender politics and the construction of sexuality. New York, NY: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flynn, T. (2006). The ties that [don't] bind: Transgender family law and the unmaking of families. In P. Currah, R. M. Juang, & S. P. Minter (Eds.), Transgender rights (pp. 32–50). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franzini, L. R., & Casinelli, D. L. (1986). Health professionals’ factual knowledge and changing attitudes toward transsexuals. Social Science and Medicine, 22, 535–539. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(86)90020-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freud, S. (1953). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. In J. Strachey (Ed. & Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 7, pp. 123-243). London: Hogarth Press. (Original work published in 1905)

  • Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, J. M., Mottet, L. A., & Tanis, J. (2011). Injustice at every turn: A report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Retrieved from National Center for Transgender Equality & National Gay and Lesbian Task Force website: http://transequality.org/PDFs/NTDS_Report.pdf.

  • Green, R., Stoller, R. J., & MacAndrew, C. (1966). Attitudes toward sex transformation procedures. Archives of General Psychiatry, 15, 178–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haddock, G., Zanna, M. P., & Esses, V. M. (1993). Assessing the structure of prejudicial attitudes: The case of attitudes toward homosexuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1105–1118. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.65.6.1105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry, P. J. (2008). College sophomores in the laboratory redux: Influences of a narrow data base on social psychology's view of the nature of prejudice. Psychological Inquiry, 19, 49–71. doi:10.1080/10478400802049936.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herbenick, D., Reece, M., Schick, V., Sanders, S. A., Dodge, B., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2010). Sexual behavior in the United States: Results from a national probability sample of men and women ages 14-94. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 7, 255–265. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.02012.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herek, G. M. (1986). On heterosexual masculinity. American Behavioral Scientist, 29, 563–577. doi:10.1177/000276486029005005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herek, G. M. (1987). Can functions be measured? A new perspective on the functional approach to attitudes. Social Psychology Quarterly, 50, 285–303. doi:10.2307/2786814.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herek, G. M. (1994). Assessing heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: A review of empirical research with the ATLG scale. In B. Greene & G. M. Herek (Eds.), Lesbian and gay psychology: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 206–228). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herek, G. M. (2000). The psychology of sexual prejudice. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 19–22. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.00051.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herek, G. M. (2002a). Gender gaps in public opinion about lesbians and gay men. Public Opinion Quarterly, 66, 40–66. doi:10.1086/338409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herek, G. M. (2002b). Heterosexuals' attitudes toward bisexual men and women in the United States. The Journal of Sex Research, 39, 264–275. doi:10.1080/00224490209552150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herek, G. M. (2009a). Sexual prejudice. In T. Nelson (Ed.), Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination (pp. 439–465). New York: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herek, G. M. (2009b). Sexual stigma and sexual prejudice in the United States: A conceptual framework. In D. A. Hope (Ed.), Contemporary perspectives on lesbian, gay and bisexual identities: The 54th Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (pp. 65–111). New York, NY: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Herek, G. M., & Capitanio, J. P. (1999). Sex differences in how heterosexuals think about lesbians and gay men: Evidence from survey context effects. Journal of Sex Research, 36, 348–360. doi:10.1080/00224499909552007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, D. B., & Willoughby, B. L. B. (2005). The development and validation of the genderism and transphobia scale. Sex Roles, 53, 531–544. doi:10.1007/s11199-005-7140-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holbrook, A. L., Krosnick, J. A., & Pfent, A. M. (2008). Response rates in surveys by the news media and government contractor survey research firms. In J. M. Lepkowski, C. Tucker, J. M. Brick, E. de Leeuw, L. Japec, P. J. Lavrakas, . . . R. L. Sangster (Eds.), Telephone survey methodology. New York, NY: Wiley.

  • Jenness, V., Maxson, C., Matsuda, K., & Sumner, J. (2007). Violence in California correctional facilities: An empirical examination of sexual assault. Retrieved from Center for Evidence-Based Corrections website: http://ucicorrections.seweb.uci.edu/pdf/FINAL_PREA_REPORT.pdf.

  • Jordan-Young, R. M. (2010). Brain storm: The flaws in the science of sex differences. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jost, J. T., Glaser, J., Kruglanski, A. W., & Sulloway, F. J. (2003). Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 339–375. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.3.339.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Juang, R. M. (2006). Transgendering the politics of recognition. In P. Currah, R. M. Juang, & S. P. Minter (Eds.), Transgender rights (pp. 706–719). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, J. N. (1995). The invention of heterosexuality. New York: Dutton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, M. (1997). Masculinity as homophobia: Fear, shame and silence in the construction of gender identity. In M. M. Gergen & S. N. Davis (Eds.), Toward a new psychology of gender (pp. 223–242). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, M. E., Winter, S., & Webster, B. (2009). Contact reduces transprejudice: A study on attitudes towards transgenderism and transgender civil rights in Hong Kong. International Journal of Sexual Health, 21, 17–34. doi:10.1080/19317610802434609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kite, M. E., & Deaux, K. (1987). Gender belief systems: Homosexuality and the implicit inversion theory. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11, 83–96. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1987.tb00776.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kite, M. E., & Whitley, B. E. (1998). Do heterosexual women and men differ in their attitudes toward homosexuality? A conceptual and methodological analysis. In G. M. Herek (Ed.), Stigma and sexual orientation: Understanding prejudice against lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (pp. 39–61). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Knowledge Networks. (2011). Knowledge Networks bibliography: Articles and presentations based on KN collected panel data, analysis, or methodology. Retrieved from Knowledge Networks website: http://www.knowledgenetworks.com/ganp/docs/KN-Bibliography.pdf.

  • Landén, M., & Innala, S. (2000). Attitudes toward transsexualism in a Swedish national survey. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 29, 375–388. doi:10.1023/A:1001970521182.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lawless, J. L. (2004). Women, war, and winning elections: Gender stereotyping in the post-September 11th era. Political Research Quarterly, 57, 479–490. doi:10.1177/106591290405700312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, E. S., & Forthofer, R. N. (2006). Analyzing complex survey data (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leitenberg, H., & Slavin, L. (1983). Comparison of attitudes toward transsexuality and homosexuality. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 12, 337–346. doi:10.1007/BF01542194.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lev, A. I. (2004). Transgender emergence: Therapeutic guidelines for working with gender-variant people and their families. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lombardi, E. (2009). Varieties of transgender/transsexual lives and their relationship with transphobia. Journal of Homosexuality, 56, 977–992. doi:10.1080/00918360903275393.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Madon, S. (1997). What do people believe about gay males? A study of stereotype content and strength. Sex Roles, 37, 663–685. doi:10.1007/BF02936334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maio, G. R., & Olson, J. M. (Eds.). (2000). Why we evaluate: Functions of attitudes. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, C. L. (1990). Attitudes and expectations about children with nontraditional and traditional gender roles. Sex Roles, 22, 151–166. doi:10.1007/BF00288188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, J. T., & Botman, S. L. (1988). Weighting adjustments for random digit dialed surveys. In R. M. Groves, P. P. Biemer, J. T. Massey, W. L. I. Nichols, & J. Waksberg (Eds.), Telephone survey methodology (pp. 143–160). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCreary, D. R. (1994). The male role and avoiding femininity. Sex Roles, 31, 517–531. doi:10.1007/BF01544277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyerowitz, J. (2002). How sex changed: A history of transsexuality in the United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moradi, B., Mohr, J. J., Worthington, R. L., & Fassinger, R. E. (2009). Counseling psychology research on sexual (orientation) minority issues: Conceptual and methodological challenges and opportunities. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56, 5–22. doi:10.1037/a0014572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagoshi, J. L., Adams, K. A., Terrell, H. K., Hill, E. D., Brzuzy, S., & Nagoshi, C. T. (2008). Gender differences in correlates of homophobia and transphobia. Sex Roles, 59, 521–531. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9458-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Namaste, V. K. (2000). Invisible lives: The erasure of transsexual and transgendered people: University of Chicago Press

  • Pettigrew, T. F. (2009). Secondary transfer effect of contact. Social Psychology, 40, 55–65. doi:10.1027/1864-9335.40.2.55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pettigrew, T. F., & Tropp, L. R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 751–783. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.90.5.751.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. (2010). Religious groups' official positions on same-sex marriage. Retrieved from the Pew Research Center website: http://pewforum.org/Gay-Marriage-and-Homosexuality/Religious-Groups-Official-Positions-on-Same-Sex-Marriage.aspx.

  • Raymond, J. (1979). The transsexual empire: The making of the she-male. Boston: Beacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roen, K. (2002). “Either/or” and “both/neither”: Discursive tensions in transgender politics. Signs, 27, 501–522. doi:10.1086/495695.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudman, L. A., & Fairchild, K. (2004). Reactions to counterstereotypic behavior: The role of backlash in cultural stereotype maintenance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 157–176. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.2.157.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sears, D. O. (1986). College sophomores in the laboratory: Influences of a narrow data base on social psychology's view of human nature. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 515–530. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.3.515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirin, S. R., McCreary, D. R., & Mahalik, J. R. (2004). Differential reactions to men and women's gender role transgressions: Perceptions of social status, sexual orientation, and value dissimilarity. The Journal of Men's Studies, 12, 119–132. doi:10.3149/jms.1202.119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stenner, K. (2009). Three kinds of conservatism. Psychological Inquiry, 20, 142–159. doi:10.1080/10478400903028615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, S. (1991). The empire strikes back: A posttranssexual manifesto. In J. Epstein & K. Straub (Eds.), Body guards: The cultural politics of gender ambiguity (pp. 280–304). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, S. (1994). My words to Victor Frankenstein above the village of Chamounix: Performing transgender rage. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 1, 237–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, S. (2006). (De)subjugated knowledges: An introduction to transgender studies. In S. Stryker & S. Whittle (Eds.), The transgender studies reader (pp. 1–17). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tausch, N., Hewstone, M., Kenworthy, J. B., Psaltis, C., Schmid, K., Popan, J. R., . . . Hughes, J. (2010). Secondary transfer effects of intergroup contact: Alternative accounts and underlying processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 282-302. doi:10.1037/a0018553.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tee, N., & Hegarty, P. (2006). Predicting opposition to the civil rights of trans persons in the United Kingdom. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 16, 70–80. doi:10.1002/casp.851.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine, D. (2007). Imagining transgender: An ethnography of a category. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weeks, J. (1977). Coming out: Homosexual politics in Britain from the nineteenth century to the present. London: Quartet Books Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitley, B. E. (2002). Gender-role variables and attitudes toward homosexuality. Sex Roles, 45, 691–721. doi:10.1023/A:1015640318045.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winter, S., Webster, B., & Cheung, P. K. E. (2008). Measuring Hong Kong undergraduate students attitudes towards transpeople. Sex Roles, 59, 670–683. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9462-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

Data collection was funded by a grant to Gregory Herek from the Gill Foundation. The authors thank Jonathan Mohr for his invaluable comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aaron T. Norton.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Norton, A.T., Herek, G.M. Heterosexuals’ Attitudes Toward Transgender People: Findings from a National Probability Sample of U.S. Adults. Sex Roles 68, 738–753 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0110-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0110-6

Keywords

Navigation