Investigating the Role of Gender Euphoria as a Protective Factor Against Minority Stress in the Trans* Population: A Research Proposal

The transgender and gender diverse (trans*) population is disproportionately affected by chronic health conditions, disability, mental illness, substance abuse, self-harm, and suicidality compared to their cisgender (non-trans*) counterparts (Downing & Przedworski, 2018; Lefevor et al., 2019). This is due to exposure to minority stressors that are specific to the trans* experience, such as gender related discrimination, gender dysphoria, and internalized transphobia (Frost & Meyer, 2023). Resilience, or the ability to adapt to challenging circumstances, has long been studied as a protective factor against stress and adversity (Luthar et al., 2000; Meyer, 2015). Gender euphoria refers to the feelings of joy, pleasure, and satisfaction that can occur when a person's experience of gender aligns with their true gender identity, whether psychologically, physically, or socially (Beischel et al., 2022). The proposed mixed-methods cross-sectional study will use quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data to examine whether gender euphoria can act as a protective factor that improves resilience to minority stress in the trans* population, and if so, which type of gender euphoria is most associated with improved resilience.