Attitudes toward transgender people of Mexican university students

Abstract

Introduction: At the national level, research on attitudes towards transgender people is incipient, especially in academic field; therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate attitudes towards transgender people among Mexican college students and their associations with sociodemographic characteristics, orientation to social dominance and egalitarianism. Methods: The sample consisted of 471 undergraduate students between 16 and 29 years old from public universities of México City and Estate of Mexico. The Scales of Attitudes towards Transgender People and of Social Dominance Orientation were applied; socioeconomic characteristics were evaluated.  Results: It was observed that college students had a medium level of acceptance towards transgender people; however, between 2% and 5% of them still maintain attitudes of rejection. Men, religious people, and participants who scored higher on social dominance orientation expressed more negative attitudes toward transgender people and less positive in activism and interest in the topic. The opposite trends were observed among participants with higher levels of egalitarianism. Conclusions: Negative attitudes toward transgender people can contribute to a hostile environment for this population group in educational institutions. Understanding and recognizing of human diversity by college students, especially health professionals, will enable them to respect this vulnerable population in their future professional activities