Reducing transphobia with the narratives of transgender YouTubers

Abstract

YouTube has emerged as a valuable resource for trans people to get themselves heard. It also has the potential to help mainstream audiences to understand more about transgender’s lives. Following Contact, Narrative Persuasion, and Queer Intercultural Theories, two experiments were conducted among cisgender people to investigate which types of narratives (positive, neutral, or negative) shared by trans YouTubers are more effective for reducing prejudice towards trans people, and whether this effect depends on the YouTuber’s gender (Study 1) and/or their ethnic background (Study 2). Results from Study 1 (N = 254) show that negative narratives mediate the reduction of prejudice through narrative transportation, empathy, and intergroup anxiety. Trans women’s narratives are more effective for prejudice reduction. Study 2 (N = 161) replicates these findings and shows that xenophobia moderates the aforesaid effect if trans YouTubers are from different nationalities. Consequently, different prejudices might interact in the reception of LGBTQ+ narratives.