Conceptualisation and psychometric validation of a new measure of ambivalent homoprejudice towards gay men

Prejudice towards gay men has almost exclusively been characterised as hostility. However, myriad other groups have been found to be targets hostile and benevolent (i.e., ambivalent) prejudice. Scholars have attempted to conceptualise ambivalent prejudice towards sexual minorities, but they are based on uncertain theoretical foundations. The aims of the current programme of research were, therefore, to develop a novel theory of ambivalent prejudice towards gay men in light of emerging literature, to further develop and nuance the nascent constructs of adversarial, repellent, romanticised, and paternalistic homoprejudice using qualitative methods, to develop a scale with which to measure the endorsement of such prejudice in the United Kingdom, and to provide evidence outlining the measure’s psychometric utility. A series of three empirical studies consisting of a focus group study on heterosexuals (n = 12) and gay men (n = 10), a large-scale survey study (n = 801), and a study of test-retest reliability (n = 131) were undertaken in order to address these aims. The qualitative findings corroborated and elaborated upon the initial theory development, suggesting that it offers a valid theoretical alternative to other theories. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and construct validation produced a multidimensional measure comprising the constructs identified in the earlier theory development and qualitative study. The proposed factor structure demonstrated good model fit and each subscale demonstrated good convergent, discriminant, and known-groups validity as well as good internal consistency and temporal stability. Altogether, these findings challenged competing theories’ accounts of attitudinal ambivalence towards gay men, offered a novel reconceptualization of these attitudes that was well-grounded in both data and theory, and produced a measurement tool with promising psychometric utility. Directions for future research such as further scale validation and behavioural studies are proposed and the implications of these findings on theory in this area is outlined.