Flores, Andrew; Haider-Markel, Donald; Lewis, Daniel; Miller, Patrick; Tadlock, Barry; Taylor, Jami K
description
Sex matters when it comes to understanding the political attitudes and behaviors of American adults. Gender matters as well. We examine the differing roles of sex and gender when it comes to topics where individuals are more likely to reference their own gender identity. We assess these components on transgender issues, which have recently emerged as salient social and political issues. By using an experiment, we show how individual’s own gender identity conditions their attitudes toward transgender people and rights. Gender identity is conceptualized as a social identity, and we experimentally manipulate individual exposure to transgender people. We find that gender non-conformity relates to more positive attitudes than gender conformity. We further find treatment effects are strongest for gender non-conforming men and for gender conforming women. We further detail the ongoing importance of considering both sex and gender, especially on issues when an individual’s own gender identity may be a salient social identity influencing their attitudes and behaviors
