Exploring Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward Transgender Individuals and Dehumanization of Transgender People: The Role of Psychological Characteristics

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56508/mhgcj.v8i1.252

Keywords:

mental health, Psychological Characteristics, Empathy, Attitudes, Nursing Students, Dehumanization, Transgender People

Abstract

?introduction: The discrimination and dehumanization faced by transgender people is particularly intense, both at the societal level and in health services.

Purpose: To examine nursing students' attitudes toward transgender individuals and to explore the role of empathy, demographic characteristics, and personality traits in shaping these attitudes. Additionally, to weigh and culturally adapt the Genderism and Transphobia Scale.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of two Universities, in Nursing Departments, with data collection via an anonymous questionnaire that included demographics, the Genderism and Transphobia Scale, the Ten-Item Personality Inventory, the Toronto Empathy Scale, and other tools to assess dehumanization. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inductive statistics, and the significance level was set at 0.05.

Results: The results showed that the absence of empathy is associated with higher levels of prejudice and dehumanization. Mean values ??for the Transphobia/Genderism category were higher for males (75,831, SD = 36,337) compared to females (51,641, SD = 26,560) and for non-binary individuals (32,000, SD = 5,715), with statistically significant differences (p < 0.001). Empathy (TEQ) had a negative correlation with dehumanization (r = -0.415, p < 0.001) and transphobia (r = -0.480, p < 0.001). Openness to Experience was negatively correlated with transphobia (r = -0.337, p < 0.001). Linear regression models showed that empathy (? = -3.045, p < 0.001) and Openness to Experience (? = -4.070, p < 0.001) explain 34% of the variability in Transphobia/Genderism (R² = 34%).

Conclusions: Enhancing empathy and incorporating inclusive education into nursing curricula can help reduce dehumanization and prejudice against transgender people

References

Adams, A. J. (2019). The Effects of Mood on Empathy, Openness to Diversity, Attitudes, and Willingness to Help Marginalized Groups. Electronic Theses and Dissertations. ?????????? ??? https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2917&context=etd

Bastian, B., & Haslam, N. (2010). Excluded from humanity: The dehumanizing effects of social ostracism. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(1), 107–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JESP.2009.06.022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.06.022

Buck, D. M. (2016). Defining transgender: What do lay definitions say about prejudice? Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 3(4), 465-472. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000191

Budge, S. L., Adelson, J. L., & Howard, K. A. S. (2013). Anxiety and depression in transgender individuals: The roles of transition status, loss, social support, and coping. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(2), 261–270. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031774 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031774

Cabrera, C., Dueñas, J. M., Cosi, S., & Morales-Vives, F. (2022). Transphobia and gender bashing in adolescence and emerging adulthood: The role of individual differences and psychosocial Variables. Psychological reports, 125(3), 1648-1666. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941211002130

Cascalheira, C. J., & Choi, N. (2023). Transgender dehumanization and mental health: Microaggressions, sexual objectification, and shame. The Counseling Psychologist, 51(4), 532–559. https://doi.org/10.1177/00110000231156161 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00110000231156161

Castellini, J. Ristori, A. Fisher, J. Ristori, H. Casale, N. Carone, E. Fanni, M. Mosconi, E. Jannini, V. Ricca, V. Lingiardi, M. Maggi, PS-01-001 Transphobia and Homophobia Levels in Gender Dysphoric Individuals, General Population and Health Care Providers, The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Volume 14, Issue Supplement_4a, April 2017, Page e107, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2017.03.073 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2017.03.073

Collin, L., Reisner, S. L., Tangpricha, V., & Goodman, M. (2016). Prevalence of transgender depends on the "case" definition: A systematic review. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 13(4), 613-626. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2016.02.001

Cornelius, J. B., & Carrick, J. (2015). A Survey of Nursing Students' Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward LGBT Health Care Concerns. Nursing Education Perspectives (National League for Nursing), 36(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5480/13-1223

Cullen, J. M., Wright, L. W., & Alessandri, M. (2002). The Personality Variable Openness to Experience as It Relates to Homophobia. Journal of Homosexuality, 42(4), 119–134. https://doi.org/10.1300/J082v42n04_08 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1300/J082v42n04_08

Day, C., & Nicholls, K. (2019). “They don’t think like us”: Exploring attitudes of non-transgender students toward transgender people using discourse analysis. Journal of Homosexuality. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2019.1667161 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2019.1667161

Derbyshire, D. W., & Keay, T. (2023). Nurses’ implicit and explicit attitudes towards transgender people and the need for trans-affirming care. Heliyon, 9, e20762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20762 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20762

Eleni Albani, Eleni Strakantouna, Viktor Vus, Nikolaos Bakalis, Ioanna V. Papathanasiou, Evangelos C. Fradelos (2022). The impact of mental health, subjective happiness and religious coping on the quality of life of nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wiadomosci Lekarskie, Vol 75(2):678-684 https://doi.org/10.36740/WLek202203120 DOI: https://doi.org/10.36740/WLek202203120

Fradelos EC, Montegrico J, Cornelius J, Bakalis V, Malliarou M, Papathanasiou IV, Fasoi G, Kelesi M, Kaba E, Alikari V. (2022) Translation and Validation of Nursing Students' Knowledge and Attitudes of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Health Concerns Survey in the Greek Language. Healthcare (Basel). 15;10(12):2547. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10122547 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10122547

Fradelos, E. C., Artemi, S., Tsalogidou, A., Almpani, E., Malli, F., Lavdaniti, M., Papathanasiou, I. V., & Tzavella, F. (2022). Attitudes toward older people among nursing students in Greece. Nursing Forum, 57(6), 1153–1161. https://doi.org/10.1111/NUF.12809 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12809

Gentil AG, Padilha MI, Bellaguarda ML, Caravaca-Morera JA. Unveiling Undergraduate Nursing Students'knowledge about Trans People. Texto & Contexto-Enfermagem. 2023 Apr 14;32:e20220150. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-265x-tce-2022-0150en

Gentil, L. G., et al. (2023). LGBTQ+ health education in nursing curricula: Gaps and opportunities. BMC Nursing, 22(1), Article 4373.

Godø, T. B., Bjørndal, Å., Fluge, I. M., Johannessen, R., & Lavdas, M. (2024). Personality Traits, Ideology, and Attitudes Toward LGBT People: A Scoping Review. Journal of Homosexuality, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2024.2344015 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2024.2344015

Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J., & Swann, W. B. (2003). A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37(6), 504–528. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(03)00046-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(03)00046-1

Haslam, N. (2006). Dehumanization: An integrative review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(3), 252–264. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr1003_4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr1003_4

Jecke, L., & Zepf, F. D. (2024). Delivering transgender-specific knowledge and skills into health and allied health studies and training: a systematic review. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 33(5), 1327–1354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-023-02195-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-023-02195-8

JMIR Medical Education. (2023). Enhancing LGBTQ+ care competencies: An innovative training approach. JMIR Medical Education, 9(1), e47777. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/47777

Kcomt L.(2019) Profound health-care discrimination experienced by transgender people: rapid systematic review. Soc Work Health Care. 58(2):201-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2018.1532941. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2018.1532941

Kourmousi, N., Amanaki, E., Tzavara, C., Merakou, K., Barbouni, A., & Koutras, V. (2017). The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire: Reliability and Validity in a Nationwide Sample of Greek Teachers. Social Sciences, Vol. 6, Page 62, 6(2), 62. https://doi.org/10.3390/SOCSCI6020062 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci6020062

McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(1), 81–90. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.52.1.81 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.52.1.81

McGregor K, Williams CR, Botta A, Mandel F, Gentile J. (2023) Providing essential gender-affirming telehealth services to transgender youth during COVID-19: A service review. J Telemed Telecare. 29(2):147-152. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X221095785. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X221095785

Mizock, L., & Lundquist, C. (2016). Missteps in the treatment of transgender clients: Promoting gender sensitivity in counseling and psychological practice. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 3(2), 148–155. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000177 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000177

Myszkowski, N., Storme, M., & Tavani, J. L. (2019). Are reflective models appropriate for very short scales? Proofs of concept of formative models using the Ten-Item Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality, 87(2), 363–372. https://doi.org/10.1111/JOPY.12395 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12395

Novak, L., Malinakova, K., Mikoska, P., van Dijk, J. P., Dechterenko, F., Ptacek, R., & Tavel, P. (2021). Psychometric Analysis of the Czech Version of the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/IJERPH18105343 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105343

Ozturk, A., & Demirden, A. (2023). Empathic Approach to Reducing the Homophobic Attitudes of Nursing Undergraduate Students Toward Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Individuals. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 16(1), 361-372.

Pavlov, M., et al. (2023). Exploring the inclusion of LGBTQ+ health topics in nursing education. Quality Advancement in Nursing Education, 9(1). &context=journal

Roth, M., & Altmann, T. (2021). The self-other agreement of multiple informants on empathy measures and its relation to empathic accuracy. Personality and Individual Differences, 171. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PAID.2020.110499 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110499

Roy, E. E., & Clark, K. D. (2024). Nursing students and role modeled behavior while caring for LGBTQ?+?people: a cross-sectional, descriptive study. BMC nursing, 23(1), 943. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02618-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02618-0

Safer, J. D., Coleman, E., Feldman, J., Garofalo, R., Hembree, W., Radix, A., & Sevelius, J. (2016). Barriers to healthcare for transgender individuals. Current opinion in endocrinology, diabetes, and obesity, 23(2), 168–171. https://doi.org/10.1097/MED.0000000000000227 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/MED.0000000000000227

Sequeira, G. M., Kidd, K. M., Coulter, R. W., Miller, E., Fortenberry, D., Garofalo, R., ... & Ray, K. N. (2021). Transgender youths' perspectives on telehealth for delivery of gender-affirming care. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(6), 1207-1210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.08.028

Spreng, R. N., McKinnon, M. C., Mar, R. A., & Levine, B. (2009). The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire: scale development and initial validation of a factor-analytic solution to multiple empathy measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(1), 62–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223890802484381 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00223890802484381

Stewart, K., & O’Reilly, M. (2017). Exploring the experiences of transgender people: A qualitative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 73(6), 1352–1361. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13213 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13213

Downloads

Published

2025-01-31

How to Cite

Fradelos, E. ., Bakalis, V., Toska, A. ., Saridi, M., Kaba, E., Tzavella, F., & Souliotis, K. . (2025). Exploring Nursing Students’ Attitudes Toward Transgender Individuals and Dehumanization of Transgender People: The Role of Psychological Characteristics. Mental Health: Global Challenges Journal, 8(1), 2–13. https://doi.org/10.56508/mhgcj.v8i1.252

Most read articles by the same author(s)