The psychometric properties of the homonegativity scale

This research details the psychometric properties of an instrument designed to measure negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians (the Homonegativ ity Scale-HS). Four studies were conducted using adolescents (N = 1078), un iversity students (N = 343), and members of the general population (N = 146 ). Results suggest that the HS possesses a unidimensional factor structure and a high degree of internal consistency for both male and female particip ants. As predicted, scores on the MS were positively correlated with machis mo, authoritarianism, political conservatism, religiosity, and modern sexis m. In addition, responses on the HS did not appear to be contaminated by so cial desirability bias. The usefulness of this measure in survey research i s discussed.