Scale Overview
The Homophobic Behavior of Students Scale – HBSS was developed by Paul Van de Ven, Laurel Bornholt, and Michael Bailey (1996). It is designed to measure Homophobic behavioral intentions. The scale is intended for use with High school and college students.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 10 items organized into 2 factors/subscales: Social Distance, Support of Rights.
| Factor / Subscale |
Items |
N |
| Social Distance |
1,2,3,4,5,6 |
6 |
| Support of Rights |
7,8,9,10 |
4 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Definitely false, 2 = Probably false, 3 = Undecided, 4 = Probably true, 5 = Definitely true.
The scale includes 7 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are summed to produce a total score.
Total scores range from 0 to 100. Interpretation guidelines:
- Computed score range (0 = least homophobic, 100 = most homophobic). Calculated as: (Summed raw score – 10) * 2.5: 0 – 100
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach's alpha of .81 for undergraduates and .86 for high school students.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 3 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.