Heterosexuals’ Attitudes Toward Transgender People: Findings from a National Probability Sample of U.S. Adults

Using data from a national probability sample of heterosexual U.S. adults (N = 2,281), the present study describes the distribution and correlates of men’s and women’s attitudes toward transgender people.
Feeling thermometer ratings of transgender people were strongly correlated with attitudes toward gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals,
but were significantly less favorable. Attitudes toward transgender people were more negative among heterosexual men than
women. Negative attitudes were associated with endorsement of a binary conception of gender; higher levels of psychological
authoritarianism, political conservatism, and anti-egalitarianism, and (for women) religiosity; and lack of personal contact
with sexual minorities. In regression analysis, sexual prejudice accounted for much of the variance in transgender attitudes,
but respondent gender, educational level, authoritarianism, anti-egalitarianism, and (for women) religiosity remained significant
predictors with sexual prejudice statistically controlled. Implications and directions for future research on attitudes toward
transgender people are discussed.