Being Pushed and Pulled in Different Directions: Examining People's Ambivalence Toward Transgender-Specific Policies

Abstract

Objectives: This work examines the dynamic relationships between people’s ambivalence and support for specific transgender policies, namely the bathroom bill and the transgender sports participation policy. Even though attitude ambivalence has been studied extensively in the social psychological research, our current understanding of this topic as it relates to attitudes toward transgender policies remains scant. Method: In Study 1, cisgender participants were surveyed about their values, ambivalence, likelihood of seeking new information, and attitudes toward transgender policies. In Study 2 and Study 3, cisgender participants were asked to report their ambivalence (distinguishing between potential and felt ambivalence), likelihood of seeking new information, and attitude toward the bathroom bill. In Study 4, cisgender participants were randomly assigned to reflect on either one-sided arguments or two-sided arguments of the transgender sports participation policy. Lastly, Study 5 investigated the extent to which cisgender participants’ endorsement of the transgender sports participation policy was a function of social norms. Results: Studies 1-3 revealed that there exist relationships among potential ambivalence, felt ambivalence, likelihood of seeking new information, and attitudes toward the bathroom bill, and these relationships were consistent with the extant literature. Study 4 demonstrated that when asked to reflect on both sides of the transgender sports participation policy, participants reported greater ambivalence than when they were asked to reflect on only one side of the policy arguments. Study 5 revealed that regardless of ambivalence levels, participants’ attitudes toward the transgender sports participation policy changed in accordance with social norms. Conclusion: This body of work allows us to understand the impact of attitudinal ambivalence in predicting support for specific transgender policies. The current work documents how ambivalence could be leveraged to mobilize support for transgender policies but may be less influential compared to social norms, especially in the context of bathroom bill and transgender sports participation policies.