Correlates of a Single-Item Indicator Versus a Multi-Item Scale of Outness About Same-Sex Attraction

• Published in: Archives of sexual behavior Vol. 45; no. 5; pp. 1269 - 1277
• Main Authors: Wilkerson, J. Michael, Noor, Syed W., Galos, Dylan L., Rosser, B. R. Simon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.07.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Gays & lesbians; Homophobia; Homosexuality - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Men; Original Paper; Psychology; Public Health; Self image; Sexual Behavior; Sexual orientation; Sexual Partners; Social Sciences; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; Self-acceptance; Sexual orientation; Male homosexuality; Outness; Internalized homophobia
• ISSN: 0004-0002; 1573-2800
• DOI: 10.1007/s10508-015-0605-2

In this study, we investigated if a single-item indicator measured the degree to which people were open about their same-sex attraction (“out”) as accurately as a multi-item scale. For the multi-item scale, we used the Outness Inventory, which includes three subscales: family, world, and religion. We examined correlations between the single- and multi-item measures; between the single-item indicator and the subscales of the multi-item scale; and between the measures and internalized homonegativity, social attitudes towards homosexuality, and depressive symptoms. In addition, we calculated Tjur’s R 2 as a measure of predictive power of the single-item indicator, multi-item scale, and subscales of the multi-item scale in predicting two health-related outcomes: depressive symptoms and condomless anal sex with multiple partners. There was a strong correlation between the single- and multi-item measures ( r  = 0.73). Furthermore, there were strong correlations between the single-item indicator and each subscale of the multi-item scale: family ( r  = 0.70), world ( r  = 0.77), and religion ( r  = 0.50). In addition, the correlations between the single-item indicator and internalized homonegativity ( r  = −0.63), social attitudes towards homosexuality ( r  = −0.38), and depression ( r  = −0.14) were higher than those between the multi-item scale and internalized homonegativity ( r  = −0.55), social attitudes towards homosexuality ( r  = −0.21), and depression ( r  = −0.13). Contrary to the premise that multi-item measures are superior to single-item measures, our collective findings indicate that the single-item indicator of outness performs better than the multi-item scale of outness.