University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 12-20-2017 Validation of the Multilayered Gender Identity Questionnaires Philip Eiseman [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Clinical Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Eiseman, Philip, "Validation of the Multilayered Gender Identity Questionnaires" (2017). Dissertations. 760. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/760 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running head: VALIDATION OF THE MGIQ Validation of the Multilayered Gender Identity Questionnaires Phil Eiseman, M.A. M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 2014 B.S., Mathematics, Haverford College, 2010 Clinical Psychology Program Department of Psychological Sciences University of Missouri-St. Louis A Dissertation Submitted to The Graduate School at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology with an Emphasis in Clinical-Community Psychology August 2018 Advisory Committee Zoë Peterson, Ph.D. Chairperson Ann Steffen, Ph.D. Matthew Taylor, Ph.D. Susan Kashubeck-West, Ph.D. VALIDATION OF THE MGIQ 2 Table of Contents Title page ............................................................................................................................. 1 Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 5 Introduction…...................................................................................................................... 6 Definitions…........................................................................................................................ 7 Traditional Assumptions in Existing Measurement Strategies… ..................................... 10 Manifestations of Traditional Assumptions in Existing Measurement Strategies. ........... 11 Evidence Contradicting Traditional Assumptions. ........................................................... 16 Measurement Approaches Challenging Traditional Assumptions… ............................... 18 How Research in Other Areas of Identity Can Inform Gender Identity Measurement..... 21 A Model of Gender Identity for the Proposed Measure .................................................... 23 The Present Study ............................................................................................................. 27 Item Development Phase Methods ................................................................................... 28 Participants… .................................................................................................................... 28 Procedures… ..................................................................................................................... 28 Item Development Phase Results… ................................................................................... 30 Scale Development Phase Methods… .............................................................................. 31 Participants… .................................................................................................................... 31 Measures… ....................................................................................................................... 32 Procedures… ..................................................................................................................... 33 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 33 Scale Development Phase Results… ................................................................................ 34 Descriptive Analyses… .................................................................................................... 34 Data Screening .................................................................................................................. 34 2 VALIDATION OF THE MGIQ 3 Factor Structure ................................................................................................................. 36 Internal Consistency ........................................................................................................... 38 Scale Validation Phase Hypotheses… .............................................................................. 38 Scale Validation Phase Methods ....................................................................................... 40 Participants… .................................................................................................................... 40 Measures… ....................................................................................................................... 40 Procedures… ..................................................................................................................... 43 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 43 Scale Validation Phase Results… ..................................................................................... 46 Data Screening .................................................................................................................. 46 Convergent Validity .......................................................................................................... 46 Divergent Validity ............................................................................................................ 50 Incremental Validity ......................................................................................................... 52 Discussion… ..................................................................................................................... 54 Convergent Validity .......................................................................................................... 55 Divergent Validity ............................................................................................................ 59 Incremental Validity ......................................................................................................... 61 Limitations… .................................................................................................................... 62 Clinical Implications and Future Directions… ................................................................. 64 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 66 References… ..................................................................................................................... 67 Tables… ............................................................................................................................ 73 Appendix A… ................................................................................................................... 94 Appendix B ....................................................................................................................... 95 Appendix C ..................................................................................................................... 1002 VALIDATION OF THE MGIQ 4 Appendix D ..................................................................................................................... 101 Appendix E… ................................................................................................................. 105 2 VALIDATION OF THE MGIQ 5 Abstract Gender identity shapes the ways transgender adults experience themselves and relate to the world around them. Although research and theory suggest that gender identity is a multidimensional construct, most measures of gender identity have viewed gender as primarily a unitary construct tied to the gender binary. The aim of this study was to develop and validate the Multilayered Gender Identity Questionnaires (MGIQ), a set of measures of gender identity, in a sample of transgender adults. Qualitative data collected through focus groups with transgender adults (N = 7) helped refine and develop these measures. A series of analyses involving a larger sample of transgender adults (N = 521) established the factor structure of the MGIQ. The final MGIQ contained four scales corresponding to different gender identities (Trans, Nonbinary, Unassigned Gender, and Assigned Gender); each scale had three subscales representing the constructs of community, physical identity, and centrality. The current study demonstrated that the finalized MGIQ demonstrates internal consistency, convergent validity with identity labeling, social identification, and involvement in activism, and divergent validity from measures of gender role identification and psychological distress. The MGIQ also demonstrated incremental validity over an existing measure of gender identity in predicting social identification and involvement in activism. The clinical implications of this measure in conceptualization and treatment planning, as well as the types of research questions the MGIQ can be used to address, are also discussed. 5 VALIDATION OF THE MGIQ 6 Validation of the Multilayered Gender Identity Questionnaires Gender identity is a core aspect of how