Video: Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride Month with Psychological Science
Happy Pride Month from APS! With the 2021 APS Virtual Convention behind us, we are proud to summarize a collection of recorded flash talks (15-minute video presentations) highlighting the strengths of the LGBTQ+ community, setbacks brought about by bias, and proposed solutions that could use psychological science to help pave the way to greater acceptance.
Flash Talks and the Virtual Poster Showcase are available to registered attendees of the 2021 APS Virtual Convention in the convention platform until June 28.
Recorded Flash Talks
Experimental Examination of the Impact of Person-First Language on Transgender Stigma
Timothy K. Daugherty, Tanya L. Whipple, and Alex J. Mannebach (Missouri State University, USA)
Daugherty, Whipple, and Mannebach discuss the impact of person-first language (PFL) on students’ behavioral intentions regarding a professor with a transgender identity (TG). An analysis of variance with post hoc tests revealed significant differences in students’ intentions to register for and participate in the professor’s class depending on the language used to identify the professor: no gender information (“professor”), TG first (“transgendered professor,” an outdated and potentially bias-inducing alternative to “transgender professor”), nominative PFL (“professor who is transgender”), or possessive PFL (“professor who has transgender identity”). Students reported a lower likelihood of registering for a class when TG-first language was used, suggesting that person-first language could help reduce activation of some biases.
Identity Centrality, Risk, and Resilience: Examining Heterogeneity Within Gender and Sexual Minority Individuals
Hana-May Eadeh and Molly Nikolas (University of Iowa, USA)
Eadeh discusses how identity centrality may have particularly salient importance for risk and resilience to psychopathology in marginalized populations, such as gender and sexual minority (GSM) individuals. A cross-sectional design used mediation to explore the interaction of centrality and GSM identities. Centrality was found to be an indicator of both risk and resilience, such that increased centrality was correlated with identity acceptance among friends and family, social support, and increased levels of anxiety, but not depression.
Our House: Association Between Needs Fulfillment From Household Members and Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic, in LGBTQ+ Vs. non-LGBTQ+ Individuals
Erin Leigh Courtice (University of Ottawa, Canada), Christopher Quinn-Nilas (University of Waterloo, Canada), Diane Holmberg (Acadia University, Canada), and Karen L. Blair (Trent University, Canada)
Courtice discusses the relationship between the fulfillment of needs by one’s household members and psychological distress, concurrently and over time, and with respect to LGBTQ+ identity. LGBTQ+ people had higher psychological distress at intake. For all participants, distress decreased over time, and living with people who fulfilled one’s needs was associated with decreased distress.
Sex Differences in Sexual Minority Stress Between Gay Men and Women
Kathleen Nesbitt-Daly (University of Western Ontario, Canada)
Nesbitt-Daly discusses a Mann-Whitney U analysis of gay men and women on measures of sexual minority stress. Compared with gay women, gay men reported more feelings of discrimination but similar levels of uncomfortable and negative feelings regarding sexuality, as well as need to hide their sexuality. Future research should focus on the precise effects of sexual minority stress in order to improve societal supports for marginalized individuals.
Thematic Analysis of My “Coming Out” Experiences Through an Intersectional Lens: An Autoethnographic Study
Enoch Leung (McGill University, Canada)
Leung discusses an autoethnographic study of his self-disclosure experiences as a gay member of an ethnic minority group, reflecting a theme of identity exploration through both adolescence and emerging adulthood. Through an intersectional lens, identity development encompassed adolescence as well as emerging adulthood, a developmental stage not accounted for by Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development.
The Multiple Meanings of the Gender-Inclusive Pronoun Hen: Predicting Attitudes and Use
Emma Aurora Renström (Gothenburg University, Sweden), Lindqvist Anna (Lund University, Sweden), and Marie S. Gustafsson Senden (Stockholm University, Sweden)
Renström discusses three studies showing that attitudes toward and use of a gender-inclusive Swedish pronoun, “hen,” differ depending on whether it is used to refer to a generic individual of unknown gender or to refer to a specific, potentially nonbinary individual. Attitudes against the use of the generic “hen” were found to be related to a preference for the linguistic status quo, whereas attitudes against the specific use of “hen” were related to cisgenderism, or beliefs about gender as being binary. On average, participants reported more negative feelings and doubts about the grammaticality of using person-specific hen, but they did not find it significantly more difficult to understand in tests of reading comprehension.
Vicarious Contact With Gay Men: The Role of Ingroup Perspective-Taking and Outgroup Empathy for Outgroup Attitudes.
Franziska Ehrke (University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany)
[Video available in 2021 APS Virtual Convention platform]Ehrke discusses two preregistered, well-powered experiments demonstrating that a YouTube video designed to enable vicarious contact with gay men improved viewers’ explicit and implicit attitudes toward this group. Increased perspective-taking with the in-group protagonists mediated increased empathy with the gay out-group protagonists, and both showed a serial indirect effect on improved out-group attitudes.
Vulnerability and Resilience: Unique Stressors, Perceived Social Support, LGBTQ+ Community Connectedness, and the Impact on LGBTQ+ Canadians’ Mental Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Bre O’Handley (Trent University, Canada), Erin Leigh Courtice (University of Ottawa, Canada), Christopher Quinn-Nilas (University of Waterloo, Canada), and Karen L. Blair (Trent University, Canada)
O’Handley discusses mental well-being, unique stressors, and possible resilience-boosting factors experienced by LGBTQ+ Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic. LGBTQ+ Canadians reported more mental distress and unique stressors relative to non-LGBTQ+ Canadians. Although perceived social support predicted greater mental well-being, connectedness to the LGBTQ+ community unexpectedly predicted worse mental well-being.
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