Psychometric properties of the genderism and transphobia scale in Iranian students.

Background: Although the prevalence of transgender individuals has increased, there is currently no scale that aligns with Iranian culture to assess transphobia. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Genderism and Transphobia Scale (GTS), and its cross-cultural adaptation in an Iranian setting.

Methods: This psychometric study involved 418 students in Tabriz, northwestern Iran. Forward-backward translation was conducted to develop a Persian version of the scale. Reliability was assessed using test-retest, Cronbach's alpha, and the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) test. Face, content, and construct validity were also evaluated.

Results: The Cronbach's alpha was 0.91 for transphobia/genderism (T/G), 0.83 for gender-bashing (GB) and 0.91 for the total GTS. The results of the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) showed that the two factors, T/G and GB, collectively explained 47.05% of the total variance. The ICCs for different factors of the Persian-GTS including T/G, GB, and GTS total were r=0.79 (Confidence interval [CI] 95%; 0.86 - 0.90), r=0.65 (CI 95%; 0.71 - 0.80), and r=0.98 (CI 95%; 0.68 - 0.79), respectively. An EFA identified two factors defining 47.05% of all the variance. Items number 8 and 31 were removed from the Persian version of GTS.

Conclusion: The Persian-GTS was identified to be valid and reliable for evaluating students' attitudes toward transgender individuals. Consequently, the Persian-GTS can be utilized in research concerning health issues related to transgender individuals.