Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Internalized Homophobia Scale

The current study examined the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Internalized Homophobia Scale (IHS; Herek, Cogan, Gillis, & Glunt, 1997) in gay men living in Turkey. Participants were 132 men in romantic, intimate, or sexual relationships with men, and they identified themselves as homosexual (n=112) or bisexual (n=20). Alpha and split-half reliability coefficients revealed good internal consistency of the scale. Consistent with the original scale, the construct validity revealed a single factor for the scale. Regarding convergent validity, the IHS had significant correlations with psychological problems, particularly with symptoms of depression and anxiety; the scale also had a significant positive correlation with negative affect and a negative correlation with self-esteem. Regarding discriminant validity, the IHS had very low correlations with positive affect and hostility attitudes. The association between internalized homophobia and psychological problems remained significant even after controlling for the variance explained by self-esteem, negative affect, and positive affect. Hence, the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of IHS appear quite promising.