Psychometric Properties of a Spanish Version of the Revised Internalized Homonegativity Scale in Gay Men and Lesbian Women

Abstract

Internalized homonegativity involves the internalization of the cultural stigma associated with homosexuality and the social devaluation of any behavior that differs from the heterosexual norm. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Internalized Homonegativity Scale-Revised (IHS-R) in gay men and lesbian women (parallel forms). Using non-probability sampling, 581 people who self-identified as gay men or lesbian women aged 18-69 years were surveyed. The results confirm the unidimensional structure of the scale and the good reliability levels of both versions (ωIHS-Rgay=.80; ω IHS-Rlesbian=.83). The results also indicate that the HI-R is a construct that, at the metric level, is invariant between gay men and lesbian women. This study provides a psychometrically sound measure of internalized homonegativity for use in Spanish-speaking populations.