Anti-transgender prejudice mediates the association of just world beliefs and victim blame attribution

Abstract

Several decades of research have found that just world beliefs (BJW) predict the blaming of innocent victims and are associated with various forms of prejudice. We tested whether anti-transgender prejudice (a) uniquely predicts victim blame for a victim perceived to be of transgender spectrum experience (or trans*), apart from BJW, and (b) whether anti-transgender prejudice is a mediator of the association between BJW and victim blame. U.S. participants (N = 311) read a hypothetical crime vignette in which the victim was either perceived to be trans* by perpetrators or not, then completed measures of victim blame, BJW, and anti-transgender prejudice. In a multiple linear regression analysis, anti-transgender prejudice and the interactions of vignette with BJW and with anti-transgender prejudice were significant predictors of victim blame. There was no independent main effect for BJW, gender, or vignette. BJW was associated with victim blame only for the trans* victim. Anti-transgender prejudice was associated with victim blame for both vignettes; however, this relationship was stronger for the trans* victim. Further, anti-transgender prejudice fully mediated the relation between BJW and victim blame in both conditions. Findings suggest that anti-transgender prejudice uniquely predicts victim blaming, even for innocent victims who are not perceived to be trans*.