A systematic review of TERF behaviour online in relation to sociopsychological group dynamics.

The increasing presence of Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs) in the media raises questions about their rhetoric and convictions, particularly on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), where contentious debates unfold. Given the limited existing research on TERFs, this study aims to deepen our understanding of the TERF movement’s dynamics. Two document analyses were conducted to uncover insights into their online behaviour and its interplay with sociopsychological group dynamics. The first analysis scrutinized feminist journals and diverse X platform posts to delineate TERFs’ categories and belief systems. The objective of this analysis was to provide a comprehensive overview of recent online discourse concerning gender criticism directed at trans individuals from a feminist perspective. In a second analysis, a literature review compared the identified categories, belief systems, and group dynamics with empirical findings, revealing alignment with recent literature. It was shown that TERFs exhibit typical group dynamics that can also be found in other conservative and authoritative ideologies. Nonetheless, further analyses are needed to fully grasp TERFs’ group dynamics and elucidate their online behaviours and belief structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]