Polymorphous prejudice: Liberating the measurement of heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men

Public opinion polls suggest a growing complexity in heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Existing unidimensional measures of sexual prejudice, however, were not designed to assess attitudinal complexity and cannot adequately reflect these trends. A new multidimensional measure of sexual prejudice was proposed. This measure was designed to (a) provide a more complex view of heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men; (b ) to incorporate overt as well as subtle forms of sexual prejudice in the measure—similar to the approach taken by modern racism and sexism researchers; and (c) to include additional scale content that takes seriously theories from the early gay liberationists and more recent queer theorists. Three questionnaire studies of undergraduates were conducted. In study one, an exploratory factor analysis produced a 7-factor measure of sexual prejudice that assessed variation in participants': (1) levels of traditional heterosexism, (2) tendency to deny that anti-gay discrimination continues, (3) aversion toward gay men and (4) aversion toward lesbians, (5) judgment regarding the value of the gay and lesbian movement for society overall, (6) comfort with traditional sex/gender roles, and (7) likelihood to endorse pro-gay pro-lesbian stereotypes. In study two, confirmatory analyses of the 7-factor measure found it to adequately describe the variation in a new set of data. Validity checks included in study two provided additional empirical support. In study three, test-retest comparisons found the subscales comprising the measure to be reliable over time. The independence of traditional heterosexism and other more subtle measure of sexual prejudice (denial of continued discrimination, aversive heterosexism, resist traditional sex/gender roles, and pro-gay pro-lesbian stereotypes) supported a modern heterosexism theory. A predicted moderating effect of essentialist beliefs on sexual prejudice was not supported.