Gendered Memory Bias in a Gender Diverse and Transgender Population

• In Event: Attitudes toward and experiences of transgender and gender diverse youth

Abstract

Modern gender development research is demonstrating increasing variety in gender identities, as well as variation by context (Keener, 2015; Mehta, 2015;Dunham & Olson, 2016; Rider, McMorris, Gower, Coleman, & Eisenberg, 2018). Still, gender diverse youth are largely absent from psychological research, and established models of gender development often do not fit their developmental trajectories. One exception is the Personal Pathways model, which specifically addresses variation in development (Liben & Bigler, 2002).
In this model, the relationship between one’s own gender and the cultural gender associations of items is key. If the relationship is concordant, the child engages with the item and incorporates it into their own-gender schema. If it is discordant, the child ignores the item and it becomes part of the less detailed “other gender” schema (Liben & Bigler, 2002). The increased interaction with self-relevant items results in a more detailed own-gender schema, evidenced in a superior memory for own-gender items (Signorella, Bigler, & Liben, 1997; Signorella & Liben, 1984). Previous work has found an advantage in recall for items that are culturally relevant to one’s own gender (Cherney, 2005; Cherney & Ryalls, 1999; Welch-Ross & Schmidt, 1996), with individuals who endorsed gender stereotypes demonstrating this effect more robustly (Signorella & Liben, 1984). However, this work has only been conducted in assumed cisgender populations.
This study proposed that affective gender identification guides gender schema formation, and that variance in endorsement of masculine and feminine identities contributes to diversity in schematic thinking. It was predicted that a greater endorsement of a masculine identity (DV) would predict a greater number of masculine items recalled (IV), with a similar pattern for feminine identity and recall.
A memory task including masculine, feminine, and neutral items was administered to 49 youth (26.5% cisgender boys, 30.6% cisgender girls, 10.2% transgender boys, 14.3% transgender girls, 18.4% genderqueer individuals, Mage= 11.41 years SD= 1.79) recruited from a Midwest metropolitan area. Participants completed a graded gender identity measure, which asked them to indicate how well a gender label fit their affective gender identity on a scale from 1-7. Data on cisgender or transgender status, activity preferences, and stereotype endorsement were collected. Responses to stereotyping measures were at ceiling for egalitarian views (M = .95, SD = .11), which made regression analyses using stereotyping as a predictor inappropriate. Multiple regression equations examined the role of age, identification, cisgender or transgender identification, and preference for culturally gendered activities in predicting gendered recall for both masculine and feminine gender valences.
Results for the masculine gender valence did not support the hypothesis (F (4, 44) = 5.69, p <.01, ηp2 = .34), as age was the only significant predictor within the set (t (44) = 4.41, p <.01). A parallel equation predicting feminine recall also did not achieve significance (F (4, 44) = 1.16, p = .34, ηp2=.10). Findings are discussed in the context of egalitarian views within the sample. Data collection efforts are planned to continue until a sample of 80 participants is reached.

Authors

• Catherine Schaefer, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Presenting Author

• Margaret L Signorella, Pennsylvania State University, Brandywine
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jenifer Kristine McGuire, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author