Increasing Parental Acceptance of Trans Youth Through Narrative Persuasion

There is an urgent need to increase parental support of transgender youth, who experience high levels of discrimination and violence. One potential mechanism for increasing this support is narrative persuasion, which involves embedding persuasive messages within a story. After developing a narrative about a parent’s path of acceptance of their trans child, based on real interviews with supportive parents of trans youth, we conducted a controlled experiment to determine its effects on attitudes and values toward trans youth. A one-month follow-up questionnaire was given to test for longitudinal effects. Results suggest narrative persuasion can marginally improve parental attitudes toward trans youth. Suggestions for more impactful narratives are provided.