Development and validation of the transgender prejudice scale

The Transgender Prejudice Scale (TPS) was developed and validated across four studies as a measure of transgender prejudice (transprejudice). The TPS is a 25-item scale with two subscales: sex essentialism and discomfort. Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analyses support the two-factor structure, while tests of convergent, construct, and discriminant validity support the TPS as a valid measure of transprejudice. Importantly, the TPS predicts negative evaluations of transgender individuals, and support for transgender civil rights, beyond the ability of a current popular transprejudice scale. The TPS does this by measuring the extent to which individuals conceptualize gender as dichotomous, unchanging, and biologically based (sex essentialism), as well as the extent to which individuals feel comfortable sharing physical and social space with transgender individuals (discomfort). The TPS' strong focus on sex essentialism makes it unique among transprejudice scales, and gives insight into an underlying factor of transprejudice.