DEVELOPING AND EVALUATING QUEERVIBE: AN ONLINE INTERVENTION TO EMPOWER TRANS AND NON-BINARY YOUTH SAM MARTIN A thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Anglia Ruskin University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology) School of Psychology and Sport Science Faculty of Science and Engineering Anglia Ruskin University Supervised by: Dr Daragh T. McDermott Faculty of Science and Engineering, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK & Dr Russell Luyt Department of Psychology, Social Work and Counselling, University of Greenwich, London, UK Submitted May 2019 Table of Contents Table of contents i Funding vii Acknowledgements viii Publications xi Abstract xiii Tables xiv Figures xv Appendices xvi Abbreviations xvii Reflexive Statement I: Positionality and Power 1 Chapter 1: Background & Overview 4 1.1 Background 4 1.2 Minority Stress 8 1.3 General Overview 10 Chapter 2: Everyday Prejudice and masculinities 14 2.1 Prejudice or Phobia? 14 2.2 Prejudice 17 2.3 Modern Prejudice 20 2.4 Everyday Prejudice and Microaggressions 22 2.5 Microaggressions 23 2.5.1 Microaggression Taxonomy 25 2.5.2 Experience of Microaggressions 28 2.5.3 Reacting to Microaggressions 29 2.5.4 Responding to Microaggressions 29 2.5.5 Criticism of Microaggressions 30 2.5.6 Intersectionality 32 i 2.6 Everyday Prejudice and Masculinities 33 2.6.1 Hegemonic Masculinity 35 2.6.2 Inclusive Masculinity 38 2.6.3 Gay Masculinities 39 2.7 Queer Theory 40 2.8 Queer Masculinities 43 2.9 Trans Masculinities 45 2.10 Chapter Summary 46 Chapter 3: Power, Empowerment and Interventions 48 3.1 Introduction 48 3.2 Social Constructionism and Power 50 3.3 Psychological Empowerment 57 3.4 Empowerment and Gender & Sexual Minority Youth 60 3.5 Interventions and Gender & Sexual Minority Youth 63 3.5.1 Resilience 63 3.5.2 Activism 66 3.6 Interventions and Masculinities 68 3.7 Online Resources 70 3.8 Online Interventions 73 3.9 Everyday Prejudice and Discursive Resources 76 3.10 Discursive Resources and Interventions 83 3.11 Mixed Methods 86 3.12 Chapter Summary 89 Chapter 4: Discourse Analysis of Queer Masculinities and 91 Everyday Prejudice 4.1 Aims and Research Questions 91 4.2 Method 91 4.2.1 Participants 92 4.2.2 Focus Groups 92 4.2.3 Sampling 93 ii 4.2.4 Procedure 94 4.3 Analysis 96 4.3.1 Discursive Psychology 97 4.3.2 Foucauldian Discourse Analysis 98 4.3.3 Queer Linguistics 99 4.4 Findings and Discussion 101 4.5 Summary 136 4.6 Limitations 138 4.7 Conclusion: Moving Forward 139 Reflexive Statement II 141 Chapter 5: Evaluating the Efficacy of QueerViBE: 143 A Randomised Controlled Trial 5.1 Aims and Rationale 144 5.2 Method 145 5.2.1 Eligibility 145 5.2.2 Recruitment 146 5.2.3 Participants 148 5.2.4 Waves 152 5.2.5 Attrition 153 5.3 Ethical Considerations 154 5.3.1 Consent 154 5.3.2 Anonymity 155 5.3.3 Confidentiality 155 5.3.4 Withdrawal 155 5.3.5 Distress 156 5.3.6 Risk 156 5.4 Measures 157 5.4.1 Demographics 157 5.4.2 Schedule of Transphobic Events 158 5.4.3 Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure 158 iii 5.4.4 Flourishing Scale 159 5.4.5 Stress Appraisal Measure for Adolescents 159 5.4.6 State Self-Esteem Scale 160 5.4.7 Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale 160 5.4.8 Collective Self-Esteem Scale 160 5.4.9 Transgender Positive Identity Measure 161 5.4.10 Activist Identity and Commitment Scale 161 5.4.11 QueerViBE Evaluation Survey 162 5.5 Intervention 162 5.5.1 Tutorial 1: Introduction to Gender and Power 166 5.5.2 Tutorial 2: Masculinities & Stereotypes 166 5.5.3 Tutorial 3: Queer Goggles & Gender Categories 167 5.5.4 Tutorial 4: Dealing with Intrusive Questions 167 5.5.5 Tutorial 5: Breaking the Rules: Being Misgendered 168 5.5.6 Tutorial 6: Breaking the Rules: Doing it Your Way 168 5.5.7 Queerstions 168 5.6 Sample Size Power 169 5.7 Randomisation 169 5.8 Blinding 170 5.9 Statistical Analysis 170 5.10 Results 171 5.10.1 Data Preparation 171 5.10.2 Demographics 172 5.10.3 Outcome Measures 175 5.10.4 Evaluation of State Self Esteem 180 5.10.5 Evaluation Survey 184 5.11 Discussion 184 5.12 Limitations 186 5.13 Future Implications 187 5.14 Conclusion 188 Reflexive Statement III 189 iv Chapter 6: Evaluating QueerViBE: A Thematic Analysis 191 6.1 Aims and Research Questions 191 6.2 Method 193 6.2.1 Participants 193 6.2.2 Procedure 193 6.2.3 Analysis 195 6.3 Findings 197 6.4 Discussion 213 6.5 Limitations 217 6.6 Future Implications 218 6.7 Conclusion 220 Reflexive Statement IV 222 Chapter 7: General Discussion 223 7.1 Overview 223 7.1.1 Background 223 7.1.2 Conceptual Framework 224 7.1.3 Study 1: Focus Groups 226 7.1.4 QueerViBE 227 7.1.5 Study 2: Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) of QueerViBE 288 7.1.6 Study 3: Interviews with QueerViBE participants 288 7.2 Limitations 229 7.3 Conceptual and Theoretical Contributions 231 7.3.1 Empowerment and Online Resources 231 7.4 Empirical and Methodological Innovations 232 7.4.1 Everyday Prejudice and Discursive Resources 232 7.4.2 Queer and Trans Masculinities 233 7.5 Practical Implications 233 7.5.1 Interventions with Trans and Non-Binary Youth 234 7.5.2 Randomised Controlled Trials with GSMY 234 v 7.5.3 Trans Youth Resources and Policy 235 7.5 Moving forward with QueerViBE: Access and Audience 235 7.6 Conclusion 238 Reflexive Statement V: Final Reflection 240 References 241 Appendices I vi Funding The work associated with this thesis was made possible by the funding provided by the School of Psychology and Sports Science at Anglia Ruskin University as part of a Graduate Teaching Assistantship. vii Acknowledgements I would not have been able to achieve all that I have achieved without the personal and professional support of a large number of people. Completing this thesis has been a long and arduous journey and along the way many people have helped me express myself in new and exciting ways and unlock hidden potential that I never thought I was capable of. Firstly, to my supervisory team Dr. Daragh McDermott and Dr. Russell Luyt, I am incredibly fortunate to have a team that complimented this mixed methods research project. When I have been feeling particularly muddled getting my head around new theoretical and methodological discussions each of you has been able to impart your own expertise which has helped me unravel this complex intervention. Moreover, when I have hit hurdles along the way and sent extremely lengthy emails panicking about my progress, you have always been there to calm me down and help me refocus. I am hugely grateful to the both of you for all the opportunities you have provided me along the way. You have opened many doors for me during this PhD and subsequently I feel that I have an exciting future ahead of me. Thank you both for inviting me to contribute to a number of diverse and exciting range of events and projects over the last few years. It has been a challenging balancing act at times but I am glad that I always said yes to whatever you threw my way. Daragh, if I could model my professional aspirations on anyone it would probably be you. It never ceases to impress me how you are able to balance a dynamic professional network of international academics and be an integral part of so many hugely inspiring and important endeavours. You have been a great role model in all aspects of my career and PhD. Russell, you opened my mind to the possibility of new interventions using applied discursive methods. Even though it has sometimes taken me a while to get my head around our deep theoretical discussions, your vast knowledge has pushed me in new and exciting directions and helped me exceed what I thought I was capable of. You viii have been so encouraging along the way and your positive feedback has been a crucial boost when I needed it the most. Thank you to my wider Gender and Sexualities group, Dr. Ashley Brooks, Dr. Magdalena Zawisza, and Rosemary Lobban. Your valuable insights, wealth of knowledge, and professional expertise has helped keep me on my toes over the years and strive to keep up. Thank you Dr. Mick Finlay, Dr. Annelie Harvey and Professor Jeffrey Grierson for your support at annual review and upgrade panels. Your feedback on my work at different stages has been very helpful and steered the research in meaningful ways. To Dr. Rosemary Chapman, I know for a fact I would not be in this position right now if it was not for you. You introduced me to discourse analysis and subsequently ignited my passion for research. Your support as I have been writing up has been invaluable. The detailed feedback you have given on drafts has been such a huge help during a very stressful few months. To Hannah Belcher, thank you for being such a good friend on my PhD journey. Thank you for watching all those superhero films with me at the cinema and being my own PhD superhero in the process. Whether it be designing eye-catching posters, letting me test out various ideas and techniques with you or just listening to me vent on our meals out.