Association between gender nonconformity and victimization: a meta-analysis

As contemporary society has become more open, people are treating others with a more tolerant attitude. However, some still exhibit violence and cause harm to gender-nonconforming individuals, with some studies suggesting a positive relationship between gender nonconformity and victimization in recent decades. The current study used a three-level meta-analysis to examine the reliability of the effect size and a series of moderating effects between gender nonconformity and victimization. Based on 81 independent samples (N = 53.183), the effect size obtained in this study was r = .149 (95% CI: [ 0.130, 0.168]), indicating a slight, positive, and significant association between gender nonconformity and victimization. The association between gender nonconformity and verbal victimization was stronger than for other types of victimization; gender nonconformity and victimization were also moderated by bullying members, and their relationship was stronger for peer victimization; whereas the relationship between gender nonconformity and victimization was stronger for men; higher study quality resulted in a stronger association between gender nonconformity and victimization. The above results suggest a significant relationship between gender nonconformity and victimization and point to future research processes that focus on the type of victimization, bullying membership, gender, and study quality in the relationship between the two.