Last update:
26-Oct-2010

OBJECTIVE The adaptation of the Herek scale attitudes toward lesbians and gay men (ATLG) into the Greek language. The ATLG scale is a brief measure of the attitudes of heterosexuals towards gay men and women. The ATLG treats these attitudes as one instance of intergroup attitudes, similar in psychological structure and function to interracial attitudes. The scale presents statements that tap heterosexuals' affective responses to homosexuality and to gay men and lesbians.

METHOD The scale was translated into the Greek language using the bilingual translation methodology. Cultural adaptation was performed by completion of the scale by 46 students of the Technological Institute of Thessaloniki (TEI), and the final version was tested on 178 students of TEI Thessaloniki who completed the scale anonymously and voluntarily.

RESULTS The ATLG scale was shown to have satisfactory internal consistency (α=0.91), test-retest reliability (r=0.91) and construct validity (paired samples T-test, p>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS The ATLG scale can be used as a valuable instrument for the measurement of sexual prejudice, and of differences in the attitudes of heterosexuals towards gay men and lesbians in future research projects, or as an evaluation tool for training programmes aimed at decreasing sexual prejudice towards lesbians and gay men.

Key words: Attitudes, Cultural adaptation, Lesbians and gay men, Sexual prejudice.