A Systematic Review of Instruments That Measure Attitudes Toward Homosexual Men

Abstract

Scientific interest in the measurement of homophobia and internalized homophobia has grown over the past 30 years, and new instruments and terms have emerged. To help researchers with the challenging task of identifying appropriate measures for studies in sexual-minority health, we reviewed measures of homophobia published in the academic literature from 1970 to 2012. Instruments that measured attitudes toward male homosexuals/homosexuality or measured homosexuals’ internalized attitudes toward homosexuality were identified using measurement manuals and a systematic review. A total of 23 instruments met criteria for inclusion, and their features were summarized and compared. All 23 instruments met minimal criteria for adequate scale construction, including scale development, sampling, reliability, and evidence of validity. Validity evidence was diverse and was categorized as interaction with gay men, HIV/AIDS variables, mental health, and conservative religious or political beliefs. Homophobia was additionally correlated with authoritarianism and bias, gender ideology, gender differences, and reactions to homosexual stimuli. Internalized homophobia was validated by examining relationships with disclosing one's homosexuality and level of homosexual identity development. We hope this review will make the process of instrument selection more efficient by allowing researchers to easily locate, evaluate, and choose the proper measure based on their research question and population of interest.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, Gender Identity and HIV Risk II, 9R01HD057595-04A1. The contents of this report are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. Additional administrative resources were provided by the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School.

The authors wish to acknowledge the following individuals without whom this project could not have been completed: Dr. Anne Marie Weber Main for critical reviewing and editing; Dr. Michael Miner for his insight and critical thinking about manuscript organization and structure; Dr. Rebecca Swinburne Romine for her methodological assistance, particularly with defining and conceptualizing reliability and validity; and Heidi Fall for her meticulous attention to detail in finalizing this manuscript.

Notes

Note. Asterisks were used as wild cards during searches, which causes the search to include all possible prefixes and suffixes to a term.

^a Most of the scales are appropriate for adults over the age of 18; only two were validated on high school students.

^b Unless clearly specified as heterosexual or homosexual, studies did not report their method of selecting the sample.

^c This scale also included subscales that measured attitudes toward homosexual women, which are not reviewed in this article.

^d The grant funded factor analytic studies which led to the initial item pool (Herek, 1984).

Note. All correlations are significant at p < .05. Except as indicated by superscript b, all scores have been reported such that higher scores indicate a greater degree of homophobia or heterosexism. GLBTI = gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersexed.

^a High scores indicate more positive attitudes.

^b Although the title of the scale includes “positive,” higher scores on this item indicate a greater degree of stereotypic beliefs and, thus, more homophobia or heterosexism (e.g., benevolent heterosexism).

Note. All correlations are significant at p < .05. All scores have been reported such that higher scores indicate a greater degree of homophobia or heterosexism.