Gender/sex diversity beliefs: Scale construction, validation, and links to prejudice

Abstract

Prejudice against or affirmation of gender/sex minorities is often framed in terms of beliefs about the ontology of gender/sex (i.e., what gender/sex is), or gender/sex diversity beliefs. We constructed the Gender/Sex Diversity Beliefs Scale (GSDB) to assess ontological beliefs about the nature of gender/sex, including essentialist and social constructionist beliefs, and validated the GSDB across a series of studies. In Study 1 ( N = 304), we explored the factor structure of the GSDB and found evidence of associations with prejudice against transgender and/or nonbinary people. In Study 2 ( N = 300), we assessed the stability of the factor structure of the GSDB and examined its criterion-related validity, including its relationship to feelings toward multiple gender/sex groups. In Studies 3a ( N = 48) and 3b ( N = 500), we established test–retest reliability. We conclude that gender/sex diversity beliefs are important for understanding contemporary attitudes about gender/sex, including prejudice against gender/sex minorities, and that the GSDB is a reliable and valid way to measure them.

Taking a “multiple forms” approach to diversity: An introduction, policy implications, and legal recommendations

“…Some initial evidence suggests that when considering all genders, an identity‐aware approach may be more effective than an identity‐blind approach. To illustrate, affirmation of different gender identities, which parallels gender awareness in its emphasis on celebrating gender‐related diversity, is associated with less prejudice against gender minorities (e.g., transgender and nonbinary individuals; Schudson & Van Anders, 2022). Furthermore, a recent set of experiments demonstrated that including gender pronouns in an organization's employee biographies—an example of how gender awareness can be implemented—increased LGBT participants’ trust and anticipated comfort in the organization (Johnson et al., 2021).…”

Gender Inequities in Household Labor Predict Lower Sexual Desire in Women Partnered with Men

“…To improve model fit, we followed the procedure outlined in Schudson & van Anders ( 2022 ) to further refine our model. Based on the Study 1 EFA, we included items that fulfilled three criteria: (1) high factor loadings (> 0.50), (2) loaded strongly onto a single factor (at least 0.15 difference between the highest factor loading and the second highest), and (3) measured unique facets of household labor.…”

Do beliefs about sexual orientation predict voting behavior? Results from the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

“…Beliefs and attitudes toward sexual minority individuals and gender minority individuals are separate but intertwined for many reasons, not the least of which is that many gender minority people identify as a sexual minority (Galupo, Henise, & Mercer, 2016); all sexual minority people effectively buck heteronormative expectations of appropriately gendered behavior by virtue of homosexual desires and/or practices; and discourse on the etiology of gender nonconformity maps onto much of the discourse about the etiology of sexual orientation (Meadow, 2018). Therefore, future work in this domain should retain a conceptual and practical distinction between beliefs about sexual orientation and gender identity but examine gender identity beliefs alongside and independent of beliefs about sexual orientation (Schudson & van Anders, 2020; van Anders, 2015).…”