The short internalized homonegativity scale: Examination of the factorial structure of a new measure of internalized homophobia

The purpose of the study was to develop a short measure of internalized homophobia (IH), one that reflected contemporary attitudes toward homosexuality and included items designed to assess the domain of sexual comfort with gay men, a domain that has been notably absent from other measures of IH. The Short Internalized Homonegativity Scale (SIHS) was informed by the Reactions to Homosexuality Scale (RHS) and the contention that currently available measures of IH were outdated in their assessment of the construct and/or failed to assess its covert manifestations. A geographically diverse sample of gay men completed an online questionnaire (N = 1,307), and the 677 respondents from the United States formed the sample for the study. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a single higher order construct of IH comprising the lower order factors of Public Identification as Gay, Sexual Comfort With Gay Men, and Social Comfort With Gay Men.