|
Description:
|
Heterosexual attitudes toward Lesbian , Gay , and Bisexual (LGB ) individuals have become the focus of recent research as sexual minorities and allies have advocated for LGB human rights issues and have subsequently captured the attention of the media (Rimmerman , 2001 , 2008 ; Rimmerman , Wald , & Wilcox , 2000 ) . Multiple influences shape heterosexual attitudes including gender socialization , individual sexual identity exploration , religious beliefs , and systemic prejudicial attitudes (Altemeyer & Hunsberger , 2005 ; Kilanski , 2003 ; Worthington , Savoy , Dillon , & Vernaglia , 2002 ; Worthington , Becker -Schutte , & Dillon , 2005 ) .
Worthington , Dillon , and Becker -Schutte (2005 ) and colleagues proposed that heterosexual attitudes toward sexual minorities are one aspect of the individual’s sexual identity that is comprised of several dimensions . Worthington et al . developed an instrument titled the Lesbian , Gay , Bisexual Knowledge and Attitude Scale for Heterosexuals (LGB -KASH ) to assess the proposed dimensions of heterosexual attitudes toward LGB individuals . Results of confirmatory factor analyses with primarily white college students and adults in the Midwest identified five factors that were consistent with the proposed dimensions . These factors were labeled : hate (violent homonegativity ; avoidance of LGB people ) ; LGB knowledge ; attitudes toward LGB civil right issues ; religious conflict (ambivalent and negative attitudes caused by religious beliefs ) ; and internalized affirmativeness (degree of comfort of having friends who are identified as LGB ; feeling comfortable of having feelings of attraction towards the same -sex ) . The LGB -KASH’s five dimensions correlated in the expected direction with scales assessing traditional homonegativity and religiosity . No other study was located that examined the factor structure and the validity of the LGB -KASH subscales .
The purposes of the proposed study was to examine (a ) the factor structure of the LGB -KASH with an ethnically diverse college sample , and (b ) the relation of the LGB -KASH dimensions to scales assessing modern -homonegativity and religious fundamentalism . It was hypothesized that the LGB -KASH five -factor structure would be confirmed with ethnically diverse college students . It was expected that modern -homonegativity would correlate positively with the hate and religious conflict subscales , and correlate negatively with the LGB knowledge , LGB civil right and internalized affirmativeness subscales . It was expected that religious fundamentalism would correlate positively with the hate and religious conflict subscales , and correlate negatively with LGB knowledge , LGB civil right and internalized affirmativeness subscales . Spirituality experiences of participants were also assessed expecting to find that experiences of spirituality would be unrelated to LGB -KASH subscales .
This study surveyed 701 heterosexual identified volunteer participants . Participants represented several major ethnic groups including African -Americans , Latino /a , Asian -Americans , and European Whites . The instruments that were used in the study include : a demographic questionnaire , the LGB -KASH , the Modern Homonegativity Scale (MHS ; Morrison & Morrison , 2002 ) , the Religious Fundamentalism Scale (RFS ; Altemeyer & Hunsberger , 1992 ) , and FACIT -Spirituality Scale (Peterman , Fitchett , Brady , Hernandez , & Cella , 2002 ) .
A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with an oblique rotation using AMOS 17 .0 to examine the factor structure of the LGB -KASH . Several indexes of fit were computed to assess how well the model fit the data including the chi -square , goodness -of -fit index (GFI ) , adjusted goodness -of -fit index (AGFI ) , comparative -fit index (CFI ) , root -mean -square residual (RMR ) , incremental fit index (IFI ) , parsimony comparative fit index (PCFI ) , and root -mean -square error of approximation (RMSEA ) . The CFA results indicated that the five factor -oblique model had a mediocre fit , and a comparable fit to the results found by Worthington and colleagues . Seven items with poor fit were identified and deleted from the scale in order to re -specify the five factor model . A CFA was conducted on the revised 21 -item scale and results indicated that the model had a good fit . Convergent validity was evidenced as the LGB -KASH subscales scores were correlated in the expected direction to the measures of modern -homonegativity and religious fundamentalism ; additionally , LGB -KASH subscales religious conflict and internalized affirmativeness were related to the construct of spiritual well -being . Limitations and implications for future research are discussed . |