What shapes how voters view transgender rights and political candidates? Jones et al. (2018) find that while a majority of Americans back transgender rights, support drops sharply for transgender candidates running for public office.
Drawing on original data from a national telephone survey of U.S. adults, Jones et al. examine attitudes across three areas: the personal characteristics of transgender individuals, support for a range of transgender rights, and willingness to back transgender candidates for public office, which was tested through a randomized experiment in the survey. The results show that while a majority of respondents support most policy issues, their views of transgender people themselves are much more lukewarm, and they show strong opposition toward electing a transgender candidate.
The authors find that basic values—including egalitarianism, moral traditionalism, party identity, political ideology, and religiosity—along with personality traits like the need for cognitive closure, predict both views of transgender people and support for their rights. Watching television is also linked to how people view transgender individuals, suggesting that media representation may help shape these opinions. On the other hand, the authors find no evidence that personal contact with a transgender person influences public views. Finally, many of these factors do little to soften attitudes toward transgender candidates, as negative reactions persist across most demographic groups.
Learn more about this article here:
Jones, P. E., Brewer, P. R., Young, D. G., Lambe, J. L., & Hoffman, L. H. (2018). Explaining Public Opinion toward Transgender People, Rights, and Candidates. Public Opinion Quarterly, 82(2), 252–278. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfy009