Presenter: Deborah Miller, PhD, HSPP 

Abstract

There is increasing awareness of and research about transgender people in the United States. However, most research focuses on attitudes toward the transgender population as a whole, a group composed of heterogeneous identities such as transgender women, transgender men, and nonbinary people, each with their own unique experiences. To date there are few studies that focus on separate transgender identities. This study examines attitudes towards these separate identities to see if they differ and analyzes predictive factors such as Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), Masculinity Ideology, and Femininity Ideology (FI). By understanding factors predicting attitudes toward different transgender identities, our project increases the understanding of unique prejudices these groups may face and shows how to best intervene for positive attitude change toward transgender populations.  

Biographical Statement

Dr. Deborah Miller is in her fourth year as part of the IU East psychology faculty. Her teaching style focuses on merging didactic learning with experiential opportunities in and out of the classroom. She leads a study abroad trip to Europe each summer, connects students with research projects within their local communities, and organizes internship experiences for undergraduate and graduate psychology students as part of her efforts to give students real-world contexts for engaging with psychology.