As a result of persisting stigma, transgender people experience vastly higher rates of harassment, violence, and mental health issues compared to cisgender people. The current study experimentally evaluated a computer-mediated intergroup contact strategy, called E-contact, to reduce transgender stigma. E-contact is a synchronous, cooperative, goal-directed online interaction which is informed by Allport’s intergroup contact theory. In total, 114 cisgender, heterosexual, Australian undergraduates and community members (83 women, 31 men) were randomly allocated to E-contact with an online confederate who either disclosed that they were a transgender woman or a cisgender woman. Following the online interaction, participants then completed measures assessing prior transgender contact and transgender stigma. The findings revealed that transgender E-contact reduced stigma for cisgender men whereas it had no impact on women’s already lower levels of stigma. These novel findings have important implications for researchers, policymakers and counsellors interested in developing transgender stigma reduction interventions by (a) highlighting the importance of transgender contact for those individuals with low or poor prior contact and (b) targeting prejudice-prone populations, such as men, who stand to gain the most from such cooperative, goal-directed interventions.

中文翻译：

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通过电子接触干预减少跨性别污名

由于持续的污名化，与顺性别者相比，跨性别者遭受骚扰、暴力和心理健康问题的比率要高得多。目前的研究通过实验评估了一种计算机介导的群际接触策略，称为 E-contact，以减少跨性别污名。E-contact 是一种同步的、合作的、目标导向的在线交互，它由 Allport 的群际联系理论提供信息。总共有 114 名顺性别、异性恋、澳大利亚本科生和社区成员（83 名女性，31 名男性）被随机分配到与在线同伙的电子联系中，该同伙要么透露自己是跨性别女性，要么是顺性别女性。在在线互动之后，参与者完成了评估先前跨性别接触和跨性别污名的措施。研究结果表明，跨性别电子接触减少了顺性别男性的耻辱感，而对女性已经较低的耻辱感没有影响。这些新发现对有兴趣制定减少跨性别歧视干预措施的研究人员、政策制定者和顾问具有重要意义，包括 (a) 强调跨性别接触对那些先前接触较少或较差的个人的重要性，以及 (b) 针对易受偏见的人群，例如男性，他们将从这种合作的、以目标为导向的干预措施中获益最多。