Attitudes Toward Homosexuality: Assessment and Behavioral Consequences

Abstract

Abstract A 21-item scale that assesses attitudes toward homosexuality is presented. This Likert-type scale has one major factor, excellent internal consistency (alpha = .93), and good test-retest reliability (r = .71). An experiment that uses this measure to predict behavior toward an alleged homosexual is also described. In this study, each male subject was initially informed, was later informed, or was not informed that his partner was a homosexual. Half these participants expected interaction with their partner; half did not. Results showed that tolerant and intolerant males react very differently when they believe they are interacting with a homosexual, as evidenced by their ratings of liking for that individual, the type of information they requested from him, the information they presented about themselves, and what they remembered about that person. The influence of timing of information and expected interaction on these variables is also discussed.