Predicting Sense of Coherence and Sense of Identity among Transgender People – Role of Perceived Social Stigma and Social Support

Abstract

Sense of coherence is a global orientation expressing a person's pervasive and enduring feeling of confidence. The term "identity" refers to the capacity for self-reflection and the awareness of self. Stigma refers to a mark or sign of some sort that is seen as disqualifying individuals from the full social acceptance of the society. Perceived social support refers to an individual’s belief that social support is available, is generally considered positive or negative and provides what is considered needed by that individual. The present study is a quantitative study which adopts a correlational design in which perceived social support & transgender identity stigma are the predictor variables, and sense of coherence and sense of identity among transgender people, are the criterion variables. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to include 120 transgender people aged between 18 – 50 years from in and around the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Analysis of results through stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that social support is a predictor of sense of coherence and its  dimensions – manageability and comprehensibility; and sense of identity. Perceived stigma was a significant predictor of comprehensibility while enacted stigma, predicted sense of coherence and comprehensibility. The application value of the study findings are high when it comes to formulating policies to improve the status of transgender community, taking into consideration their plight and the dearth of psychological research with this marginalised group.