http://cira.yale.edu/sites/default/files/ressnapshot_white.pdf

Transgender stigma and health: A critical review of stigma determinants, mechanisms, and interventions.

Phenomenon: Transgender patients experience discrimination, limited access to care, and inadequate provider knowledge in healthcare settings. Medical education to address transgender-specific dispa...

Engaging the Transgender Community to Improve Medical Education and Prioritize Healthcare Initiatives.

Throughout the history of the United States, there have been many social movements that have resulted in an array of historic societal outcomes-ranging from the end of racial segregation to women's voting rights to the legalization of same-sex marriages. Despite the positive outcomes derived from political activism, many psychologists have struggled with how to advocate for social justice while maintaining their professional responsibilities and ethical boundaries. The current article reviews the historical ways that psychologists have participated in political movements-from the use of psychological research in landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases to psychologist-led pushes for policy changes in psychology, medicine, and other mental health related fields. Next, a critical review provides some of the major controversies or dilemmas regarding psychology, social justice, and political participation-including (a) ethical concerns and professional boundaries, (b) the utility of political neutrality in psychology, (c) psychologists' balance and self-care, (d) psychologists' lack of advocacy training, and (e) beliefs concerning the role of social justice advocacy in psychology. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of the concept "psychologist-activist"-highlighting the many ways that psychologists across various subfields and institutions can combat oppression on individual, interpersonal, group, and institutional levels. (PsycINFO Database Record

"Let's get in formation": On becoming a psychologist-activist in the 21st century.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the power of entertainment narratives to influence attitudes and behaviors; fewer have examined the effects of TV portrayals on attitudes toward marginalized groups. The present study is among the first to explore how entertainment narratives depicting transgender individuals influence viewers’ attitudes toward transgender people and related policies. The study examines the impact of exposure to a TV storyline on Royal Pains (USA Network) and cumulative effects of viewing other TV series featuring transgender individuals. An online survey of 488 U.S. viewers of Royal Pains was conducted (391 had seen the relevant episode). ANCOVAs revealed exposure to both the Royal Pains’ storyline and other storylines portraying transgender individuals were associated with more supportive attitudes toward transgender people and policies. Mediation models revealed that for viewers of the Royal Pains’ storyline, the relationships between political ideology and attitudes toward transgender people and policies were mediated by identification with the main characters and the emotion of hope. Disgust mediated viewers’ attitudes toward transgender people, but not policies. Post hoc analyses revealed that exposure to transgender narratives reduced the influence of viewers’ political ideology on their attitudes. The attitudes of more conservative viewers became increasingly positive as they saw more media portrayals of transgender individuals. These findings highlight the potential for entertainment narratives to influence attitudes toward marginalized groups, and they demonstrate the importance of emotion in the context of divisive topics. Social, political, and public health implications are discussed.

More than a Media Moment: The Influence of Televised Storylines on Viewers’ Attitudes toward Transgender People and Policies

Given its prevalence and impact, it is important that prejudice against sexual‐and gender identity minorities is reduced and that negative behaviors against these minorities are prevented. We introduce and provide a definition of the term Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Prejudice (SOGIP), and discuss its determinants and configurations as well as ways to measure it. Furthermore, we review the recent social psychological literature on SOGIP‐reducing interventions, identify scientific knowledge gaps regarding these interventions, and offer recommendations on how to apply the available knowledge to real‐life situations. We conclude that there are many interventions currently being employed to target SOGIP with some seeming more effective than others. Particularly promising interventions are those aimed at evoking empathy and perspective taking and those aimed at developing alliances between minority and majority members. However, there is still room for improvement. Overall, little empirical evidence speaks to the robustness of intervention effects, its underlying mechanisms, duration, and boundary conditions. Researchers should focus on all aspects of SOGIP (i.e., sexual orientation prejudice as well as gender identity prejudice); different expressions of prejudice (i.e., blatant and subtle), actual behavior towards minorities, and on both perpetrators and targets of prejudice. By joining forces, researchers and practitioners should aim to overcome practical and theoretical obstacles in evaluating the effectiveness of interventions. Policy makers should support initiatives that test, improve, implement and distribute intervention programs, and can help bring together researchers and practitioners.

/pdf/interventions-to-reduce-blatant-and-subtle-sexual-4dv6kwe6je.pdf

Interventions to reduce blatant and subtle sexual orientation- and gender identity prejudice (SOGIP): Current knowledge and future directions.

Sexual minorities experience significant stigma and prejudice. Much research has examined sexual stigma and prejudice impacting gay and lesbian individuals, but limited research has examined other sexual minorities, such as transgender persons or individuals whose gender identity or expression is incongruent with their assigned gender or anatomical sex. Research has found that interpersonal contact with sexual minorities is associated with lower sexual stigma and prejudice. Intergroup contact theory predicts that interaction between groups can reduce stereotyping and improve intergroup relationships. Using a randomized crossover design, this study compared the impact of exposure to a transgender speaker panel vs. a traditional transgender lecture presentation on transphobia. Results indicated greater immediate reductions of transphobia following the transgender speaker panel than traditional lecture.

Elisabeth M. Swain

Papers

Using Intergroup Contact Theory to Reduce Stigma Against Transgender Individuals: Impact of a Transgender Speaker Panel Presentation