The association between transgender-related fiction and transnegativity: transportation and intergroup anxiety as mediators

ABSTRACT

Fictional narratives can serve as an indirect contact strategy when direct contact between two groups is not feasible. This study investigated whether exposing cisgender individuals to transgender-related fiction was associated with reduced transnegativity. Two emotion-related mediators were examined in this relationship: transportation into the story (proximal to fiction exposure) and intergroup anxiety (proximal to contact theory). Cisgender participants (N = 84) viewed or read stories involving transgender characters or read a science article. Those who encountered transgender characters reported lower transnegativity than those who read the control story. Transportation into the story and intergroup anxiety serially mediated this relationship. The findings suggest conditions under which a fictional story can expand an audience’s social world and thereby serve as a strategy for prejudice reduction.

KEYWORDS:

• Indirect contact
• prejudice
• fiction
• transnegativity
• intergroup anxiety

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID)/DOCTORADO BECAS CHILE/2015 - 72160318.

Notes on contributors

Ligia Orellana

Ligia Orellana has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Sheffield, UK, and academic and professional experience in Social and Health Psychology in El Salvador (Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas) and Chile (Universidad de La Frontera). She is currently a researcher at the Universidad de La Frontera, and her work focuses on subjective well-being and sexual orientation and gender identity issues.

Peter Totterdell

Peter Totterdell is Professor of Psychology at the University of Sheffield, UK. He has a PhD in Psychology, is a member of the British Psychological Society and a Certified Psychologist. His research focuses on affect and well-being in applied settings, including emotional regulation and the impact of imagination on well-being. He has published over a hundred scientific articles and multiple books in various fields of psychology.

Aarti Iyer

Aarti Iyer received her PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz (2004), and is currently an Associate Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her research addresses challenges to inequity and injustice by individuals (e.g. political attitudes and behaviors) and organizations (e.g. affirmative action programs and initiatives for diversity).