Is A Person’s Memory Of News Exposure Related To Their Attitudes Towards Transgender Individuals?

Previous studies have examined the factors that contribute to attitudes towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals. However, research specifically on attitudes towards transgender individuals is scarce. Due to the negative mental health outcomes experienced by transgender people, further research on attitudes towards transgender people is necessary. This study investigated how memory of exposure to affirming and non-affirming news about transgender people relates to attitudes towards this at-risk group. There is no research on how news exposure relates to attitudes towards transgender individuals, but other research indicates that the news influences attitudes towards other marginalized groups. An online survey was conducted using a sample of undergraduate students (N = 250). I hypothesized that (a) perceived news exposure would be positively correlated with attitudes towards transgender individuals, with personal contact moderating this relationship and (b) that the news sources used would mediate the relationship between political beliefs and attitudes. The hypotheses were not supported for the sample as a whole. However, memory of news exposure was significantly positively correlated with attitudes towards transgender individuals for males. This study expanded the current literature by finding that religiosity, political ideology, and personal contact related to attitudes towards transgender individuals specifically.