Measuring Bullying in Sexual Minorities: Testing Two Bullying Scales in an LGB Sample

The working experience for those in the sexual minority is not well understood, particularly with respect to interpersonal mistreatment based on sexual orientation. This study breaks new ground by utilizing a sample of 416 LGB working adults to assess the relative usefulness of two bullying measures (the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (Person-Related) and the Homophobic Bullying Scale) to determine their convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity in predicting organizational commitment, turnover, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Results show that discriminant and convergent validity exist between these scales and both measure similar levels of perceived bullying (from the victim’s perspective). We concluded that although there are similarities and differences between these measures, more research is needed to determine the most appropriate instrument to assess perceived bullying in a sexual minority population. Several areas for subsequent research are noted.