Abstract

RODRIGUES, Lucca Pereira  and  GIACOMONI, Claudia Hofheinz. Optimism, Hope, and Coping in Transgender Brazilians: Positive Psychology Contributions. Psicol. cienc. prof. [online]. 2025, vol.45, e273150.  Epub Apr 28, 2025. ISSN 1414-9893.  https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-3703003273150.

Transgender people are those whose gender identity matches a gender other than that assigned at birth, a population that is considered vulnerable. The Brazilian transgender population is estimated to total around 2% of all its adults (about three million people), the lives of whom continually suffer the impacts of physical and psychological violence, discrimination, and difficulty accessing services and joining the work force. Following a positive psychology perspective, this study aims to identify possible sources of mental health for trans people by investigating hope, optimism, coping strategies, and the associations of these variables with mental health in this population. The final sample consisted of 228 transmasculine (99), transfeminine (42), travesti (11), and non-binary participants (76) who were mainly recruited by social media and answered questionnaires. Participants’ ages varied from 18 to 86 years (M=24,8; Mdn=22). Optimism and hope had slightly below average scores, whereas depression, anxiety, and stress lied above average. Older developmental stages seemed to positively affect most studied variables, whereas race and gender identity seemed to impact specific constructs, such as depression and emotion-focused coping. This study found both the possible contributions of hope and optimism toward the mental health of the participants, including the potential for clinical practice as well as research for psychologists working with transgender people. New studies must be conducted to replicate or refute these results and expand the contributions of positive psychology for marginalized populations.

Keywords : Positive Psychology; Transgender Persons; Optimism; Hope; Psychological Adaptation.

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