CHAPTER
25
Measures of Attitudes towards Sexual
Orientation: Heterosexism, Homophobia,
and Internalized Stigma
William S. Ryan and Jim Blascovich
University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Research into negative attitudes regarding sexual identity and orientation started to emerge in the 1970s. Due
to the complex and ever-changing cultural and personal understandings of same-sex sexuality, this research area
is both diverse and fast evolving. An almost unwieldy number of measures have been constructed to assess anti-
gay attitudes, prejudices, and homophobia. These assessments employ various definitions and many are
designed to measure different forms or components of anti-lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) attitudes. In selecting
a measure it is important to bear in mind not only issues of validity and reliability, but also the specific nature of
the construct under investigation, the research question at hand, and the population of interest.
In 1973 homosexuality was removed from the DSM as a diagnostic category just after Weinberg (1972) coined
the term homophobia to describe the dread of being in close quarters with homosexuals, as well as the self-
loathing homosexuals may have for themselves. These two events helped solidify and perpetuate the recognition
of homophobia, rather than homosexuality, as the source of well-being and mental health deficits experienced by
non-heterosexuals. These problems began to be understood as stemming from the stigma and prejudice faced by
those perceived to belong to this socially deviant group and cleared a path for research into the nature and conse-
quences of such prejudice.
In the last 40 years, the term homophobia has become commonplace in political, academic, and personal dis-
course. Indeed, homophobia may refer generally to any negative thoughts, attitudes, or behaviors held or enacted
by individuals as well as religious beliefs and political and corporate policies that disadvantage sexual minorities.
Within the field of psychology the term homophobia has been ascribed a variety of definitions, which have shifted
with changing societal norms and vary with the theoretical perspective employed.
As noted above, Weinberg’s (1972) original definition of homophobia emphasized its basis in fear, in keeping
with the etymology of the word. Many early assessments were developed on the basis of this definition, empha-
sizing fear or anxiety in the presence of homosexuals and locating homophobia within such fearful individuals
(Herek, 2004; O’Donahue & Caselles, 1993 ). This original focus on the pathological, homophobic personality
quickly became obfuscated as some researchers expanded the definition to refer broadly to any negative reaction
directed at homosexuals ( Fyfe, 1983; Haaga, 1991 ). Even among scholars who continue to define homo phobia as
fear-based, there are differences; some scholars argue that homophobia denotes the fear of being labeled a homo-
sexual (e.g., Kimmel, 1997 ) and others emphasize homophobia as a psychodynamic defense against one’s own
same-sex inclinations ( Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996; Weinstein et al., 2012 ).
Other researchers ( Herek, 2004; O’Donahue & Caselles, 1993 ) have argued that although the word phobia gen-
erally refers to an irrational fear of the target object, homophobia may not be, in all cases, irrational. For example,
inO’Donahue and Caselles’ (1993) view, anti-LGB bias is only irrational when negative affect and behavior con-
flict with neutral or even positive cognition. Thus, if cognitions are negative (e.g., homosexuals threaten family
719Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Constructs.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-386915-9.00025-5 ©2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.