A survey by a Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) student found transgender individuals are reported to have healthier romantic relationships.
Misha Turychenko, a bachelor of arts in psychology honours student, chose the topic of what makes a relationship work well for his honours thesis.
“There’s a significant lack of research on transgender individuals in relationships,” Turychenko said. “I wanted to help fill this gap and learn how they might compare to cisgender individuals in areas like relationship satisfaction and conflict resolution.”
The online survey was open to both transgender and cisgender people who are in a committed romantic relationship. More than 400 people filled out the survey. He designed the survey to evaluate general and gender-related stress levels, conflict resolution styles and relationship satisfaction.
The survey results showed that transgender people reported having a higher level of satisfaction with their partner and their relationship overall.
“One thing I found especially interesting was that transgender people who are less connected to their wider community actually felt a greater sense of relationship satisfaction," Turychenko said. “You would typically think it would go the other way around, but perhaps they may depend more on their partners for social support and therefore view them more positively.”
The results also showed that transgender and cisgender couples use different types of conflict resolution, with transgender individuals using more positive forms of problem-solving.
One possible explanation for why cisgender individuals may report lower levels of relationship satisfaction, according to Turychenko, is the increased external pressure they face from friends and family to stay in unhealthy relationships. Transgender individuals may not experience this pressure to the same extent.
In relationships with cisgender couples, traditional gender roles and hierarchy may lead to tension. However, relationships with at least one transgender partner are less likely to experience such tensions, as there is typically more equality between the partners.
“I really hope to see more studies on this topic, especially headed by transgender researchers,” Turychenko said. “Research like this is important because it can help inform advocacy efforts on developing policies and counselling methods that are better suited for transgender individuals.”
