Sexual Orientation Microaggression Inventory (Swann et al., 2016)

• Populations: Adolescents, young adults.
• Age ranges: 16-20
• Languages: English
• Countries: United States

Items

Subscales

• Anti-gay attitudes and expressions, 6 Items
• Denial of Homosexuality, 3 Items
• Heterosexism, 5 Items
• Societal Disapproval, 5 Items

Items by Subscale

• Anti-gay attitudes and expressions, 6 Items
  • You heard someone say “that’s so gay” in a negative way?
  • You were told not to “act so gay”
  • Someone said, “you are not like those gay people”
  • Someone said, “you know how gay people are”
  • Someone expressed a stereotype (example: “gay men are so good at fashion”)
  • You heard someone talk about “the gay lifestyle”
• Denial of Homosexuality, 3 Items
  • You were told you just haven’t found the right person of the opposite sex
  • You were told that being gay is just a phase.
  • A family member expressed disappointment about you being gay, lesbian, or bisexual
• Heterosexism, 5 Items
  • You were told you’re not a “real” man/woman
  • A heterosexual person said you are being “paranoid” when you suspect someone treated you in a homophobic way
  • A heterosexual person didn’t believe that gay, lesbian, and bisexual people face discrimination
  • You were told you were overreacting when you talked about a negative experience you had because of your sexual orientation
  • A heterosexual denied they have any heterosexism (example: “As a person of color, I’m offended that you would imply I could be homophobic”)
• Societal Disapproval, 5 Items
  • You saw a group either in person or in the media show negative signs (example: A religious group with a sign that said “God hates fags”)
  • Someone said gay, lesbian, and bisexual people are trying to get “special rights” that they don’t deserve
  • Someone said, “I don’t mind gay people, they just shouldn’t be so public”
  • Someone said a hateful slur about gay, lesbian, and bisexual people (example: “fag”or “dyke” said in a mean way)
  • Someone said homosexuality is a sin or immoral

Responses

Items used a 5 Item ordinal scale ranging from “not at all” to “about every day”

Scoring

Not Reported

Citations

Swann, G., Minshew, R., Newcomb, M. E., & Mustanski, B. (2016). Validation of the sexual orientation microaggression inventory in two diverse samples of LGBTQ youth. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45(6), 1289-1298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0718-2