Perceived experiences of anti-bisexual prejudice: Instrument development and evaluation.

TLDR

The study develops and evaluates the Anti‑Bisexual Experiences Scale (ABES) and examines how different types of perceived anti‑bisexual prejudice relate to minority stress. Items were generated from prior literature, refined with expert input, and subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to assess reliability and validity. The ABES revealed a stable three‑factor structure—Sexual Orientation Instability, Sexual Irresponsibility, and Interpersonal Hostility—with good reliability (α .81–.94), convergent validity (r .28–.54), discriminant validity, and 2‑week test‑retest coefficients of .77–.89.

Abstract

This research describes the development and psychometric evaluation of the Anti-Bisexual Experiences Scale (ABES). Items were developed on the basis of prior literature, revised on the basis of expert feedback, and submitted to psychometric evaluation. Exploratory factor analysis of data from 350 bisexual participants yielded 3 factors of reported experiences of prejudicial treatment reflecting (a) Sexual Orientation Instability, (b) Sexual Irresponsibility, and (c) Interpersonal Hostility. This structure emerged with bisexual persons' reported experiences of prejudice from heterosexual people as well as from lesbian and gay people. Confirmatory factor analysis of data from a separate sample of 349 bisexual individuals supported the stability of this 3-factor structure. The data offered evidence of acceptable reliability (i.e., Cronbach's alphas of .81 to .94), convergent validity (i.e., with stigma consciousness, r = .37 to .54; with awareness of public devaluation, r = .28 to .41), and discriminant validity (i.e., for impression management, r = -.00 to .09). Relative levels of the various types of perceived experiences of anti-bisexual prejudice and the role of such experiences within the minority stress framework were also explored. With a separate sample of 176 bisexual individuals, data on the final 17-item version of the ABES yielded 2-week test-retest reliability coefficients of .77 to .89 and Cronbach's alphas of .86 to .96 across subscales.