Sociopolitical Trends and Attitudes Towards Transgender People: A Validation Study of the Transgender Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs (T-KAB) Scale in a Portuguese Sample

Introduction Attitudes towards transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals are associated with discrimination against TGD people and underly TGD minority stress. Despite Portugal's progressive legal framework, anti-trans interactions and discourse are reported. Nonetheless, studies on trans attitudes are still incipient in Portugal. The Transgender Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs (T-KAB) scale is a psychometrically sound measure of transgender attitudes. However, its convergent validity with transphobia is yet to be tested, and its ability to study sociopolitical factors driving pro-trans attitudes is unexplored.Methods We explored the psychometric properties of the European Portuguese version of T-KAB in an online collected (February 2022 to May 2022) sample of Portuguese adults (N = 447), and tested differences (ANOVA; t-test) in T-KAB according to sociopolitical factors.Results Results from the Principal Axis Factoring and Parallel Analysis showed a two-factor measure of acceptance, comfort, and social tolerance towards trans people. Both factors presented an excellent internal consistency (alpha = .94 and alpha = .95) and were significantly associated with the Genderism and Transphobia Scale.Conclusions Results found that participants with a heterosexual orientation, less contact with TGD people, less educated, religious, and who endorsed a right-wing or conservative political ideology showed lower T-KAB scores. These results corroborate the psychometric validity of the T-KAB, as well as its ability to identify sociopolitical segments of the population according to their attitudes towards TGD people.Policy Implications This study informs future research on tailored interventions to increase transgender acceptance, comfort, and social tolerance in the general population.