Nursing Reports (Oct 2020)

Measuring Explicit Prejudice and Transphobia in Nursing Students and Professionals

  • Jesús Manuel García-Acosta,
  • María Elisa Castro-Peraza,
  • Lilisbeth Perestelo-Pérez,
  • Amado Rivero-Santana,
  • Ángeles Arias-Rodríguez,
  • Nieves Doria Lorenzo-Rocha

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep10020008
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 2
pp. 48 – 55

Abstract

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Trans* people frequently report attitudes of prejudice/transphobia in health professionals. Conversely, health professionals indicate the lack of adequate training to care for these people and its impact on the quality of care provided. Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the explicit prejudices/transphobia of health students and professionals and compare them with the general population in Tenerife. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with the Genderism and Transphobia Scale (GTS) and the Negative Attitude towards Trans* people Scale (EANT) with a total of 602 participants. Results: We found a low mean level of explicit prejudice/transphobia, with little/no differences between occupation groups. Explicit transphobia was correlated with being a man, less educated, and heterosexual, and not personally knowing a trans* person. Men and women were less transphobic about trans* people whose identities coincided with their own. Conclusion: All participants showed a low mean level of explicit transphobia. This result is not incompatible with unconscious prejudice, which may translate to discriminatory behaviors. Interventions to change negative attitudes are still needed, since even a small percentage of transphobic health professionals could exert a considerable negative impact on health care. In professionals without transphobic attitudes, the barriers identified by trans* people might be a problem due to the lack of specific training.

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