Event Date:
Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Event Location:
- The Lane Room (Ellison 3824)
"Reducing transphobia: A field experiment with a conversation campaign"
Joshua Kalla, Ph.D. Student in Political Science, University of California, Berkeley
In May 2015, Joshua Kalla and David Broockman uncovered apparent scientific fraud in a paper by Michael LaCour and Donald Green (2014, Science) purporting to demonstrate significant opinion change on issues related to same sex marriage. In this paper, Kalla and Broockman replicate the study that LaCour and Green purportedly did to see what the effects really are.
Despite dramatic reductions in prejudice towards lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals, prejudice towards transgender individuals (the T in LGBT) remains widespread. Reducing this prejudice is a public health priority, as transgender people experience poor life outcomes on a variety of measures as a result of it: transgender people are more likely to commit suicide, have difficulty finding a job, and more. Here we report results from a randomized controlled trial of an intervention designed to reduce transphobia that draws on principles from cognitive behavioral therapy. The intervention consisted of a door-to-door conversation campaign with several goals: it sought 1) to draw out the content of the stereotypes and negative reactions that automatically come to individuals' mind, 2) allow individuals to become aware of the dissonance between these negative judgments and their personally resonant experiences and values, and 3) anchor judgments of transgender people more firmly in accepting experiences and values. The results are [redacted here, but extremely interesting]. These findings have important implications for understanding public opinion.
October 9, 2015 - 4:32pm