Identity Management Strategy Scale (Button, 2004)

• Populations: Sexual minority Adolescents
• Age ranges: 14-24
• Languages: English
• Countries: United States

Items

Subscales

This measure has multiple proposed factor structures.

Original Structure  (Button, 2004)

• Counterfeiting, 6 Items
• Avoiding, 7 Items
• Integrating, 10 Items

Adapted Structure (Zhenqiang, 2022)

• Assimilating Subscle, 4 Items
• Decategorizing Subscale, 5 Items
• Integrating Subscale, 6 Items

Adapted Items by subscale

Assimilating

• I only talk about crushes or dates with individuals of the opposite gender even if those are made up. 
• I only display romantic/sexual attraction to individuals of the opposite gender. 
• I make sure that I don’t behave in the way people expect LGBQ+ to behave. 
• I laugh at “fag” or “no homo” jokies to fit in with my straight peers in school.

Decategorizing

• I avoid classmates/peers who frequently discuss romantic or sexual matters.
• I avoid situations (e.g. hang out with peers after class) where straight classmates/peers are likely to ask me personal questions.
• I let my classmates.peers know or think that I find personal questions about my sexual orientation to be inappropriate so that I am not faced with them.
• I avoid personal questions by never asking my classmates/peers about their personal lives.
• When my peers/classmates talk about dates, romances, and friendship, I try to remain silent.

Integrating

• In my daily activities, I am open about my sexual orientation whenever it comes up.
• Whenever I’m asked about being LGBQ+, I answer in an honest way.
• I hang out with my LGBQ+ friends in school.
• I openly display interests in LGBQ+ issues.
• I let my classmates/peers know that I’m proud to be LGBQ+.
• I display objects (e.g. photographs, accessories, symbols) which suggest that I am LGBQ+.

The response was originally reported on a six-point Likert-type scale from “1 = never” to “6 = 
always”. 

Scoring

Not reported

Citations

• Button, S. B. (2004). Identity management strategies utilized by lesbian and gay employees: A quantitative investigation. Group & Organization Management, 29(4), 470-494. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601103257417
• Zhao, Zhenqiang. (2022). The Process of Sexual Orientation Disclosure and Concealment: Implications for a Multi-Dimensional Construct among Sexual Diverse Youth (Doctoral dissertation, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA).

Team comments

The Assimilating subscale did not reach our thresholed for adequacy for Internal Consistency

 

Please see (Button, 2004) for further validation data, which included evidence for Construct Validity and Internal Consistency, but only in adult graduate students or full-time employees