Date of Award

6-2023

Document Type

Open Access

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Zachary Buchin

Language

English

Keywords

memory, transgender, bias, recall, LGBTQ

Abstract

Decades of prior research have shown that our memory is susceptible to a variety of influences that can distort the accuracy of what we remember. For example, false memories can be implanted into an individual's mind and top-down factors like expectations and prejudicial biases can sway what we do and don't remember about an event. The current study was designed to assess the potential memory-modifying influence of an understudied, yet important, type of bias - anti-transgender bias. Although prior research has documented the prevalence of anti-transgender bias in today's society, no study has yet examined how these biases may shape our memory and judgements of an event. To that end, we asked participants to read a set of short stories centered on an individual's day at an amusement park and later recall details from those stories and make judgements regarding specific events that took place. One of these stories involved the main character helping a child wash their hands in a restroom. Critically, we manipulated the gender of the main character (cisgender man, transgender man, cisgender woman, or transgender woman) as well as the gender of the restroom (men's or women's room). Participants also completed an anti-transgender bias scale. Results will shed light on the potential influence of anti-transgender bias on memory and judgements, as well as if that influence varies between transgender men and transgender women.

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Rights Statement

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted.