Identifying the roots of transphobic behaviors

March 24, 2025

Katherine Faglie ’25 always took pride in growing up in a community and surrounding herself with friends who seemed empathetic to marginalized groups. That faith in her surroundings was shaken a bit when a trans girl joined her younger sister’s flag football team.

“The girls [on the team] didn’t accept her. They would call her ‘the it’ behind her back, and there was a parent that pulled their child out of the sport because there was a trans girl participating,” Faglie recalled. “And this was really disheartening to hear because it was my community, and I thought I grew up in an accepting community.”

An Albion College student by that time, Faglie became interested in using her senior thesis project to understand predictors of transphobia better. Instead of further exploring well-known predictors of transphobia, like religion and political ideology, Faglie was interested in examining attachment styles and how they might be related to transphobia.  Her curiosity may lead to new insight regarding transphobia.

What role do attachment styles play in attitudes toward trans people?

There is no documented answer to that question. However, Faglie is in the midst of research she hopes will provide an answer. Faglie is conducting a study examining whether people with more secure attachment styles tend to be less transphobic.  

Her theory is that people who’ve developed a secure attachment style are likely to be more trusting in general. This, in turn, may be related to less prejudice toward trans people specifically, given that previous research suggests negative attitudes towards trans people often center around feelings of distrust or the notion that trans people are deceptive in some way.

Her study will assess the extent to which any potential trans prejudice-attachment style relationships may be mediated by trust. Faglie has already collected data from more than 100 Albion students and she is now beginning to collect data more widely online.

“Kate’s research is a small-but-important step toward better understanding the sorts of factors that may contribute to trans prejudice,” explained Eric Hill, associate professor in Albion’s Psychological Science Department. “While attachment styles and trust have been studied as predictors of other types of prejudice, Kate’s study will be the first we are aware of to examine how they might be related to attitudes toward the transgender community specifically.”

The research may provide other helpful insights for Faglie.

“I really want to be a school psychologist,” she said. “Working with kids is, to me, very rewarding and I want to create a safe space for students. I think understanding the types of prejudices that exist in our world is very valuable when trying to create connections with students and trying to find ways to help them.”

Kate Faglie is a senior majoring in psychology and Spanish. Faglie is an Albion College AmeriCorps member working with Math Corps to create a math tutoring program for Harrington Elementary School. She is also a member of Psi Chi, the honor society in psychology, and Mortar Board. Faglie has received rewards such as Albion’s Scholastic Achievement Award from Phi Beta Kappa and the Kristen D. Metalonis, ‘99, Memorial Endowed Scholarship. She has also been a member of the Albion College Dean’s List since 2021.