A Systematic Review of the Psychometric Properties of Binegativity scales

Abstract

Research suggests that bisexual people encounter discrimination from heterosexual people, lesbian women, and gay men. This discrimination, henceforth labeled ‘binegativity,’ manifests itself in various forms such as denying and delegitimizing bisexuality as a sexual orientation, rendering bisexual persons invisible from the larger queer community, and promulgating various myths about bisexual persons (e.g., the myth that bisexual persons are intrinsically more promiscuous than their nonbisexual counterparts). Binegativity has the potential to compromise bisexual individuals’ mental and physical health and, consequently, their experiences of discrimination are being assessed using a wide variety of measures. To date, a review of the psychometric properties of the scales utilized to measure binegative experiences has not been published. To address this omission, a systematic review was completed to determine each scale’s adherence to best practices in psychometric development and testing. Forty-one studies using 30 unique scales were awarded a score from 0 to 5 (i.e., higher scores denote greater psychometric soundness). The Anti-Bisexual Experiences Scale emerged as the strongest measure of experienced binegativity. Other measures are identified and reviewed, and recommendations for future research are offered.

Keywords:

• Bisexuality
• binegativity
• prejudice
• discrimination
• psychometrics
• validity