The English Version of the Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Scale

The English Version of the Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Scale

Abstract

The present study reports the psychometric properties of the English version of the short form of the Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Scale (ATHS; Falomir-Pichastor & Mugny, 2009). Workers from Amazon’s MTurk^TM (n = 235 for validation, n = 60 for test-retest) completed the short form of the ATHS, translated from French, and the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG; Herek, 1998) and responded to a series of demographic questions. In this paper, we present evidence for a single-factor structure of the scale, along with evidence for the validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability of the measure. The data revealed distinct patterns in participants’ ATHS scores as a function of their religious affiliation and political conservatism. Finally, positive ATHS scores predicted support for gay rights over and above that predicted by ATLG scores (Herek, 1984). The evidence presented suggests that the ATHS is a psychometrically reliable and valid tool for assessing attitudes toward homosexuality.

Keywords

• sexual prejudice
• anti-gay attitudes
• attitudes toward homosexuality
• scale
• validation
• homosexuality
• short form