Attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: a factor-analytic study

This paper reports a series of factor analyses of responses to attitude statements about lesbians and gay men. Using a common factor model with oblique rotation, a bipolar "Condemnation-Tolerance" factor was observed repeatedly in four separate samples of undergraduates. The factor accounts for 35-45% of the total common variance in responses, and is similar for male and female respondents and for questionnaires concerning both lesbians and gay men. A "Beliefs" factor accounts for another 5% of the total variance. It is argued that scales assessing attitudes toward lesbians and gay men should restrict their content to items loading highly on the Condemnation-Tolerance factor.