Social Psychological and Personality Science, volume 12, issue 5, pages 731-740

Defending the Sex/Gender Binary: The Role of Gender Identification and Need for Closure

Thekla Morgenroth ¹

M Gustafsson Sendén ²

Anna Lindqvist ^{2, 3}

Emma A. Bäck ⁴

Michelle Ryan ^{1, 5}

T A Morton ⁶

Hide authors affiliations Show authors affiliations: 6 affiliations

Washington Singer Laboratories, University of Exeter, United Kingdom |

Stockholm university, Sweden |

Lund university, Sweden |

⁴

University of Gothenburg, Sweden |

⁵

UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN, THE NETHERLANDS |

⁶

University Of Copenhagen, Denmark |

Publication type: Journal Article

Publication date: 2020-07-16

SAGE

Journal: Social Psychological and Personality Science

scimago Q1

wos Q1

SJR: 2.489

CiteScore: 12.5

Impact factor: 4.3

ISSN: 19485506, 19485514

DOI: 10.1177/1948550620937188

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Clinical Psychology

Social Psychology

Abstract

In the Western world, gender/sex is traditionally viewed as binary, with people falling into one of two categories: male or female. This view of gender/sex has started to change, triggering some resistance. This research investigates psychological mechanisms underlying that resistance. Study 1 ( N = 489, UK) explored the role of individual gender identification in defense of, and attempts to reinforce, the gender/sex binary. Study 2 ( N = 415, Sweden) further considered the role of individual differences in need for closure. Both gender identification and need for closure were associated with binary views of gender/sex, prejudice against nonbinary people, and opposition to the use of gender-neutral pronouns. Policies that aim to abolish gender/sex categories, but not policies that advocate for a third gender/sex category, were seen as particularly unfair among people high in gender identification. These findings are an important step in understanding the psychology of resistance to change around binary systems of gender/sex.

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GOST |

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GOST Copy

Morgenroth T. et al. Defending the Sex/Gender Binary: The Role of Gender Identification and Need for Closure // Social Psychological and Personality Science. 2020. Vol. 12. No. 5. pp. 731-740.

GOST all authors (up to 50) Copy

Morgenroth T., Sendén M. G., Lindqvist A., Bäck E. A., Ryan M., Morton T. A. Defending the Sex/Gender Binary: The Role of Gender Identification and Need for Closure // Social Psychological and Personality Science. 2020. Vol. 12. No. 5. pp. 731-740.

RIS |

Cite this

RIS Copy

TY - JOUR

DO - 10.1177/1948550620937188

UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620937188

TI - Defending the Sex/Gender Binary: The Role of Gender Identification and Need for Closure

T2 - Social Psychological and Personality Science

AU - Morgenroth, Thekla

AU - Sendén, M Gustafsson

AU - Lindqvist, Anna

AU - Bäck, Emma A.

AU - Ryan, Michelle

AU - Morton, T A

PY - 2020

DA - 2020/07/16

PB - SAGE

SP - 731-740

IS - 5

VL - 12

SN - 1948-5506

SN - 1948-5514

ER -

BibTex |

Cite this

BibTex (up to 50 authors) Copy

@article{2020_Morgenroth,

author = {Thekla Morgenroth and M Gustafsson Sendén and Anna Lindqvist and Emma A. Bäck and Michelle Ryan and T A Morton},

title = {Defending the Sex/Gender Binary: The Role of Gender Identification and Need for Closure},

journal = {Social Psychological and Personality Science},

year = {2020},

volume = {12},

publisher = {SAGE},

month = {jul},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620937188},

number = {5},

pages = {731--740},

doi = {10.1177/1948550620937188}

}

MLA

Cite this

MLA Copy

Morgenroth, Thekla, et al. “Defending the Sex/Gender Binary: The Role of Gender Identification and Need for Closure.” Social Psychological and Personality Science, vol. 12, no. 5, Jul. 2020, pp. 731-740. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620937188.

Found error?

Publisher

SAGE

Journal

Social Psychological and Personality Science

scimago Q1

wos Q1

SJR

2.489

CiteScore

12.5

Impact factor

4.3

ISSN

19485506 (Print)

19485514 (Electronic)