Gender essentialism and the mental representation of transgender women and men: A multimethod investigation of stereotype content

Gallagher, Natalie M.; Bodenhausen, Galen V.

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104887

Cited by 30 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 100 publications

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“…The lack of gender inversion was also accompanied by reduced gender differences between gay men and lesbian women, compared to straight men and women. The relatively smaller gender differences between gay men and women are in line with other studies on gender differences in minoritized groups (Gallagher & Bodenhausen, 2021;Hudson & Ghani, 2022), suggesting that for minoritized groups, gender is not as salient of a category as it is for prototypical groups. In the case of sexual orientation, "de-gendering" (Gallagher & Bodenhausen, 2021) is in line with stereotype muting (Hall et al, 2019) that occurs when oppositional stereotypes are combined for intersectional identities.…”

Section: Implications For Theorysupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The relatively smaller gender differences between gay men and women are in line with other studies on gender differences in minoritized groups (Gallagher & Bodenhausen, 2021;Hudson & Ghani, 2022), suggesting that for minoritized groups, gender is not as salient of a category as it is for prototypical groups. In the case of sexual orientation, "de-gendering" (Gallagher & Bodenhausen, 2021) is in line with stereotype muting (Hall et al, 2019) that occurs when oppositional stereotypes are combined for intersectional identities. Stereotype muting can explain why gay men and women are perceived similarly in terms of their competences if any aspect of masculinity (perceived gender or gender expression) is seen as having higher competence compared to femininity.…”

Section: Implications For Theorysupporting

confidence: 89%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Gender Inversion is Not the Full Story: Nuanced Expectations of Gay Men and Lesbian Women’s Competencies in the United States

Hudson¹,

Noland²,

Ghani³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Previous research has shown that people hold an implicit gender inversion assumption regarding descriptive stereotypes of gay men and lesbian women. More specifically, people believe that the hobbies and preferences of gay men are similar to straight women, while lesbian women’s hobbies and preferences are similar to straight men. However, research to date has not provided a full understanding regarding the competencies of gay men and lesbian women when they engage in gender counter-normative activities. Across five studies (two pre-registered, N = 2454) we show a divergence between what gay men and lesbian women are expected to do and how well they are expected to do them. Gender inversion did not adequately explain in what domains people anticipated competence from gay men and lesbian women. Instead, gay men and lesbian women were seen as relatively incompetent compared to straight men and women across occupations (Studies 1A – C), skills (Study 2), and general domains (Study 3), particularly by straight people (Studies 1C and 3). Furthermore, this assumption was found implicitly (Studies 2 and 3), as even gay and lesbian participants were more likely to associate straight people with competence and gay/lesbian people with incompetence. We discuss the implications of these findings for gender inversion theory and the study of stereotypes more broadly.

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Section: Implications For Theorysupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Implications For Theorysupporting

confidence: 89%

Gender Inversion is Not the Full Story: Nuanced Expectations of Gay Men and Lesbian Women’s Competencies in the United States

Hudson¹,

Noland²,

Ghani³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For others, membership is more 'fuzzy'; people belong to the category in varying degrees." et al (2010), Yzerbyt, Corneille, andEstrada (2001), Pauker et al (2016), andGallagher andBodenhausen (2021) for findings that support a positive relationship between essentialism and stereotyping. See Ritchie and Knobe (2020) and Bailey and Knobe (2021) for alternative views.…”

Section: Orcidmentioning

confidence: 97%

Psychological essentialism and the structure of concepts

Neufeld

2022

Philosophy Compass

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Psychological essentialism is the hypothesis that humans represent some categories as having an underlying essence that unifies members of a category and is causally responsible for their typical attributes and behaviors. Throughout the past several decades, psychological essentialism has emerged as an extremely active area of research in cognitive science. More recently, it has also attracted attention from philosophers, who put the empirical results to use in many different philosophical areas, ranging from philosophy of mind and cognitive science to social philosophy. This article aims to give philosophers who are new to the topic an overview of the key empirical findings surrounding psychological essentialism, and some of the ways the hypothesis and its related findings have been discussed, extended, and applied in philosophical research.

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“…Numerous researchers have applied Meyer’s (2003) model of minority stress, which posits that distal and proximal stressors related to one’s sexual minority status contribute to negative mental health outcomes, to gender minority populations (e.g., Griffin et al, 2019; Hendricks & Testa, 2012; Lefevor et al, 2019; McLemore, 2018; Testa et al, 2015). Overall, research suggests that people hold moderate to negative attitudes toward transgender people (Anderson, 2022; Clark & Hughto, 2020; Norton & Herek, 2013), and those negative attitudes may be rooted in beliefs such as gender essentialism (Ching & Chen, 2022; Gallagher & Bodenhausen, 2021; Worthen, 2022), religiosity (Gegenfurtner, 2021; Norton & Herek, 2013), and political conservatism (Billard, 2018; Gegenfurtner, 2021; Molin et al, 2021; Norton & Herek, 2013; Perez-Arche & Miller, 2021). Though sexual and gender minority people and women generally report more positive attitudes toward transgender people (Anderson, 2022; Billard, 2018; Gegenfurtner, 2021; Norton & Herek, 2013; Perez-Arche & Miller, 2021), there is a current uptick in trans-exclusionary ideology in some queer spaces, especially with cisgender lesbian women (Worthen, 2022).…”

Section: A Note About Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

Growing up in a rural area, social support, and internalized transphobia: Understanding Appalachian transgender mental and physical health.

Mann¹,

Fredrick²,

Wilkins³

2024

Stigma and Health

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Transgender and nonbinary (TNB) people make up a growing percentage of Americans. While research on this community has been increasing steadily over the past decade, rural and Southern TNB experiences are often overlooked. The goal of this study was to examine how growing up in a rural area impacts the physical and mental health of TNB adults. Using a sample of 163 TNB adults living in South Central Appalachia, we used structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between growing up in a rural area and current mental and physical health. Growing up in a rural area was indirectly related to psychological distress through current social support, which was indirectly related to psychological distress through internalized transphobia. Growing up in a rural area was directly related to physical health, and this relationship was partially mediated by current levels of social support. Additionally, psychological distress predicted physical health. Overall, our findings suggest that growing up in a rural area is an important component of understanding mental and physical health for transgender people living in South Central Appalachia. Resources should be allocated to rural communities to increase social support and decrease internalized transphobia for TNB people, especially youth, in these areas.

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Gender essentialism and the mental representation of transgender women and men: A multimethod investigation of stereotype content

Abstract: NOTE: This is an unpublished preprint that has not yet completed peer-review. This preprint is a working paper shared to facilitate timely dissemination of science, and thus is subject to change.

Cited by 30 publications

References 100 publications

Gender Inversion is Not the Full Story: Nuanced Expectations of Gay Men and Lesbian Women’s Competencies in the United States

Gender Inversion is Not the Full Story: Nuanced Expectations of Gay Men and Lesbian Women’s Competencies in the United States

Psychological essentialism and the structure of concepts

Growing up in a rural area, social support, and internalized transphobia: Understanding Appalachian transgender mental and physical health.

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