Reliability
Internal Consistency
Cronbach alpha coefficients for the ATL and ATG obtained using both college student and non-student adult
samples were found to be greater than .85 and .80 ( Herek, 1988, 1994 ). The 5- and 3-item versions exhibited alpha
coefficients above .80 and .70, respectively ( Herek & McLemore, 2011 ).
Test/C0Retest
A total of 110 undergraduates (73 female, 37 male) completed the ATLG and an alternate version separated by
three weeks ( Herek, 1994 ). The full ATLG, and the ATL and ATG subscales correlated with their respective alter-
nates at r5.90, .83, and .84 ( Herek, 1994 ).
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Herek (1988) reported that both men’s and women’s scores on the ATG and ATL correlate positively with
measures assessing attitudes regarding traditional gender ( rs5.43 to .62; ATWS; Spence & Hahn, 1997 ), and fam-
ily (rs5.48 to.63) ideology, perceptions of friend’s agreement with one’s attitudes ( rs5.38 to .53), and religious
dogmatism ( rs5.21 to .34). For female respondents, additional positive correlations emerged between ATLG
scores and frequency of religious attendance, conservative religious membership, and endorsement of fundamen-
talist Christian beliefs (ranging from .24 to .34; Herek, 1988 ), suggesting a positive relation between conservative
religious values and ATLG scores ( Herek, 1994; Herek & Capitanio, 1996, 1999 ). Negative contact with gay men
and lesbians was also significantly related to ATG and ATL scores (ranging from .13 to .29; Herek, 1988 ).
Divergent/Discriminant
The significantly lower scores of gay and lesbian respondents relative to heterosexuals provides evidence for
the discriminant validity of this measure ( Herek, 1988 ). Gay men ( N516) and lesbians ( N513) who completed
the 20-item ATLG obtained extremely low (positive) scores on the full measure, as well as the subscales
(Minimum total score for this version is 20). For lesbians, the mean score was 28.08 (for ATG M514.54; for ATL
M513.54). Gay men averaged 37.71 (for ATG M516.59; for ATL M521.12). In the original student sample
(Herek, 1988 , Study 1), total scores on the ATLG were not correlated with social desirability ( Crowne & Marlowe,
1960). A low correlation ( r5/C0.27) between social desirability and men’s scores on the ATG subscale did, how-
ever, emerge.
Construct/Factor Analytic
Support for the utility of assessing homophobia as a single bipolar factor was provided by a series of factor
analytic studies utilizing principal-factor analysis with oblimin rotation ( Herek, 1984 ). In the first three studies,
participants ( Ns572, 104, 130) responded to items drawn from existing measures of attitudes toward homosex-
uals. Results indicated that one factor explained most of the variance in responses. This factor was labeled
Condemnation /C0Tolerance and captured items assessing personal and cultural attitudes toward gay men and les-
bians. Though additional factors did emerge, these explained only a small proportion of the variance, were corre-
lated with the first factor, and tapped beliefs about gay men and lesbians rather than attitudes towards them.
Potential scale items were then administered to students from four different university campuses. A total of
437 students (276 female, 161 male) completed a version referring to lesbians as the target of evaluation and 469
(282 female, 187 male) completed the gay male version. Four principal-factor analyses were conducted on this
data set reflecting all possible combinations of target and rater sex (e.g. women’s ratings of lesbian targets). In all
cases, the Condemnation /C0Tolerance factor emerged.
Criterion/Predictive
ATG and ATL scores of both male and female respondents were predictive of ‘real-life’ contact with gay men
and lesbians ( rs5/C0.29 to /C0.45). ATLG scores were also predictive of the number of gay and lesbian friends
(rs5/C0.17 to /C0.25;Herek, 1988 , Study 2). As well, community members who opposed a gay rights initiative
obtained significantly higher scores on the ATLG than did those who supported this measure ( Herek, 1988,
1994).724 25. MEASURES OF ATTITUDES TOWARDS SEXUAL ORIENTATION: HETEROSEXISM, HOMOPHOBIA, AND INTERNALIZED STIGMA
VI. SOCIOCULTURAL INTERACTION AND CONFLICT