Lesbian Internalized Homophobia Scale – LIHS
Measures the degree of internalized homophobia and heterosexism in lesbian women.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Lesbian Internalized Homophobia Scale – LIHS was developed by Dawn M. Szymanski & Y. Barry Chung (2001). It is designed to measure Internalized Homophobia. The scale is intended for use with Lesbian women.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 8 items.
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Slightly Disagree, 4 = Uncertain, 5 = Slightly Agree, 6 = Agree, 7 = Strongly Agree.
The scale includes 4 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Item scores are averaged to produce a mean score.
Total scores range from 8 to 56. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Internalized Homophobia: 8 – 24
- Moderate Internalized Homophobia: 25 – 40
- High Internalized Homophobia: 41 – 56
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.85.
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.