ABSTRACT

Fictional narratives can serve as an indirect contact strategy when direct contact between two groups is not feasible. This study investigated whether exposing cisgender individuals to transgender-related fiction was associated with reduced transnegativity. Two emotion-related mediators were examined in this relationship: transportation into the story (proximal to fiction exposure) and intergroup anxiety (proximal to contact theory). Cisgender participants (N = 84) viewed or read stories involving transgender characters or read a science article. Those who encountered transgender characters reported lower transnegativity than those who read the control story. Transportation into the story and intergroup anxiety serially mediated this relationship. The findings suggest conditions under which a fictional story can expand an audience’s social world and thereby serve as a strategy for prejudice reduction.

摘要

当两个群体之间的直接接触不可行时，虚构叙述可以作为一种间接接触策略。这项研究调查了将顺性别者暴露于与跨性别相关的小说中是否与减少的跨负性有关。在这种关系中检查了两个与情绪相关的中介：进入故事（接近小说接触）和群际焦虑（接近接触理论）。顺性别参与者（N= 84) 查看或阅读涉及跨性别角色的故事或阅读科学文章。那些遇到跨性别角色的人比那些阅读控制故事的人报告的反消极性更低。进入故事和群际焦虑连续调节了这种关系。研究结果表明，虚构故事可以扩展观众的社交世界，从而作为减少偏见的策略。