LGBTQIA+ vs non-LGBTQIA+ Young Adults’ Descriptions of Modern Gender Prototypes

Sanders, Rick (2026) LGBTQIA+ vs non-LGBTQIA+ Young Adults’ Descriptions of Modern Gender Prototypes. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

This study examined whether LGBTQIA+ and non-LGBTQIA+ young adults emphasize different features when describing gender prototypes. To conduct this, a convenience sample of (N=110) young adults aged from 18 to 35 years old was asked to describe one or more of the following gender prototypes; masculine male, feminine female, feminine male, masculine female, and non-binary person. Responses were analyzed using a combination of deductive and inductive coding to identify recurring descriptive features. In the current study, the described features were categorized in appearance, personality and interest categories. In the masculine male prototype descriptions, the expected pattern of LGBTQIA+ participants emphasizing interests and personality and non-LGBTQIA+ participants emphasizing appearance, was found to some extent. For the masculine female, feminine female, feminine male and non-binary prototypes feature emphasis did not follow this expected pattern. Besides a great number of overlapping features between descriptions of both groups, LGBTQIA+ participants more often emphasized appearance-related features and non-LGBTQIA+ participants emphasizing personality-related features. Across all prototypes, interest-related features were emphasized least frequently by both groups. A noteworthy finding was the use of more stereotypical personality descriptions for the non-binary prototype by non- LGBTQIA+ participants compared to LGBTQIA+ participants. A difference that was not noticeable to the same extent in the other prototype descriptions. A key limitation of the study was the convenience sampling method. It resulted in a skewed distribution of demographical characteristics within the sample. Therefore, a future suggestion is to use alternative sampling methods in order to hopefully study the differences between LGBTQIA+ and non- LGBTQIA+ people’s prototypical conceptualizations of genders more clearly.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Supervisor name:	Goedendorp, M.M.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	None [Bachelor Psychology]
Date Deposited:	09 Feb 2026 14:58
Last Modified:	09 Feb 2026 14:58
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/6143

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