Chaney and Sanchez studied responses to gender-inclusive bathrooms; best practices for designing these sorts of restrooms have been receiving a lot of attention recently, for example here: https://qz.com/933704/how-to-design-transgender-friendly-bathrooms-that-make-people-of-all-genders-feel-safe/. Chaney/Sanchez report that “While gender-inclusive bathrooms serve a practical function of providing a safe public restroom for transgender individuals, they may also signal identity safety [in other words, fairness] for women and racial minorities who may experience identity threat in organizations…we demonstrated that women…and racial minorities (Blacks, Latinos;…) report greater procedural fairness [i.e., less discrimination] and a more positive gender…or racial…climate in organizations with gender-inclusive bathrooms compared to traditional bathrooms. Further, these effects were due to…gender-inclusive bathrooms…signaling more egalitarian social environments.”
Kimberly Chaney and Diana Sanchez. “Gender-Inclusive Bathrooms Signal Fairness Across Identity Dimensions.” Social Psychological and Personality Science, in press.
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.