A study about attitudes toward transgenders: a transparent hate or a colourful love?

Transphobia is supported by negative, prejudiced, discriminatory and harassing attitudes toward transgender men and women, rooted in social, political, educational, and religious learning. The present study aims to perceive the relationship between empathy, self esteem, religiosity and age on negative attitudes towards transgender men and women. We also aim to determine the collective and unique explanatory power of these variables in predicting attitudes towards transgender. The final sample comprised 538 participants (431 women and 106 men) who completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Attitudes Toward Transgender Men and Women (ATTMW) Scales, the Interpersonal Reactivity (IR) Index, and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES),. Results showed that individuals more religious, less empathic and older tended to have more negative attitudes towards transgender. In addition, our results showed that empathy and religiosity were predictors of attitudes towards transgender men and women. Results have several implications, including for clinical settings. Results highlight the relevance of an inclusive education for the decrease of hate crimes, and have several implications, including in clinical, forensic, sports, organizational and research contexts.