Adversarial Heterosexual Beliefs Scale

Abstract

The Adversarial Heterosexual Beliefs Scale (AHBS) is a psychometric instrument designed to measure the degree to which an individual holds hostile, competitive, and distrustful attitudes regarding heterosexual interactions and gender relations. Developed by Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1995), the scale conceptualizes heterosexual relationships as inherently zero-sum, characterized by mutual exploitation, manipulation, and power struggles. High scores on the AHBS indicate a strong belief that men and women are fundamentally adversarial and cannot achieve true understanding or equality.

This scale is particularly significant in psychological research because it serves as a robust predictor of broader socially hostile attitudes, specifically demonstrating strong empirical connections to rape myth acceptance and attitudes supporting violence against women. It moves beyond traditional measures of sexism by focusing specifically on interpersonal conflict and the perception of heterosexual relationships as a battleground.

Keywords

Adversarial beliefs, Heterosexuality, Gender attitudes, Interpersonal conflict, Rape myth acceptance, Sexual hostility, Gender power dynamics, Likert-type scale.

Authors

Lonsway, K.A., Fitzgerald, L.F.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Adversarial Heterosexual Beliefs Scale is to quantify an individual’s cognitive schema concerning antagonism and distrust between the sexes. The authors sought to create a measure that could reliably capture the specific attitudinal dimension of heterosexual hostility, which they hypothesized would be a critical antecedent to the acceptance of sexually aggressive behavior and victim blaming.

The scale provides researchers with a focused tool to investigate the psychological underpinnings of relational conflict and gender inequality, particularly in contexts related to dating, marriage, and the workplace. By measuring these adversarial beliefs, researchers can better understand the psychological mechanisms that reinforce societal violence and discrimination rooted in gender conflict.

Construct

The AHBS measures the construct of Adversarial Heterosexual Beliefs, which posits that relationships between men and women are characterized by inherent conflict, manipulation, and competition. This construct encompasses several dimensions, including the belief that each sex is primarily motivated by self-interest (exploitation), the impossibility of cross-sex friendship, the necessity of dominance within relationships, and the perception of sex as a competitive game where one party inevitably loses.

This construct is distinct from general hostile sexism or traditional gender roles, as it focuses specifically on the competitive and zero-sum nature of interaction rather than merely hierarchical differences. Items often reflect generalized distrust (e.g., “people are mostly out to take advantage of each other”) applied specifically within the heterosexual context, emphasizing a skeptical and cynical view of relational motives.

Validity

The original research establishing the AHBS provided strong evidence for its construct validity. The scale was shown to significantly correlate with measures of hostile sexism, but also demonstrated discriminant validity by showing unique predictive power beyond general sexism, particularly concerning sexual aggression and rape myth acceptance.

Further studies have confirmed its predictive validity, showing that high scores on the AHBS are associated with greater acceptance of interpersonal violence and a tendency toward victim-blaming in scenarios involving sexual assault. This suggests that the measured adversarial worldview provides a cognitive framework that rationalizes and minimizes harm in gender-based conflicts.

Reliability

The Adversarial Heterosexual Beliefs Scale typically demonstrates high levels of internal consistency. In the initial development by Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1995), the scale reported robust Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, often exceeding 0.85, indicating that the 15 items reliably measure the same underlying construct of adversarial beliefs.

The high reliability suggests that the instrument is a stable and consistent measure suitable for use in diverse research settings, providing confidence that observed differences in scores reflect actual differences in the measured attitudes rather than measurement error. Test-retest reliability has also been generally found to be strong, suggesting the stability of these attitudes over time.

Factor Analysis

The AHBS is often treated as a unidimensional scale, reflecting a single overarching factor of antagonism in heterosexual relations. However, some exploratory factor analyses have suggested the presence of potential sub-factors, such as: 1) beliefs regarding relational manipulation and distrust, 2) beliefs regarding gender competition in broader societal contexts (e.g., the workforce), and 3) beliefs concerning the impossibility of gender equality or cross-sex understanding.

Despite the potential for subtle sub-factors, the scale is typically scored and utilized as a cohesive measure, summing or averaging responses across all 15 items to yield a single total score representing the degree of adversarial belief held by the respondent.

Instrument

Test Type: Attitudinal Questionnaire / Self-Report Scale

Format: 15 items rated on a seven-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree).

Language Available: English (Primary).

Population Group: General population, primarily used with college students and adult samples.

Age Group: Adolescents (older) and Adults.

Population Details: Originally validated on undergraduate university populations, though applicable to any group studying gender attitudes and violence prevention.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate their level of agreement with each statement regarding the nature of heterosexual interactions. Items 13, 14, and 15 are often reverse-scored as they express non-adversarial or egalitarian views.

Keywords

Violence against women, Psychometrics, Sexual aggression, Gender roles, Hostile attitudes, Scale development, Relational conflict.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Information not provided in source.)

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A (Information not provided in source.)

Correspondence Address: N/A (Information not provided in source.)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed and published in 1995. Given its publication in a major academic journal, the scale is generally available for non-commercial academic research use, subject to standard citation requirements. No specific fee structure is typically associated with the use of the scale items themselves.

The instrument is included in key resource compendiums related to violence research. For instance, this instrument can be found on page 32 of Measures for the assessment of dimensions of violence against women: A compendium Compiled by Michael Flood. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.svri.org/measures.pdf

Reference’s

Lonsway‚ K.A.‚ and L.F. Fitzgerald. (1995). Attitudinal antecedents of rape myth acceptance: A theoretical and empirical reexamination. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology‚ 68(4)‚ April‚ 704-711.

Items of the Adversarial Heterosexual Beliefs Scale

The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. In dating relationships people are mostly out to take advantage of each other.

2. If you don’t show who’s boss in the beginning of a relationship you will be taken advantage of later.

3. Most people are pretty devious and manipulative when they are trying to attract someone of the opposite sex.

4. Men and women are generally out to use each other.

5. It’s impossible for men and women to truly understand each other.

6. In the work force any gain by one sex necessitates a loss for the other.

7. When women enter the work force they are taking jobs away from men.

8. Men and women cannot really be friends.

9. Sex is like a game where one person “wins” and the other “loses.”

10. In all societies it is inevitable that one sex is dominant.

11. It is natural for one spouse to be in control of the other.

12. When it comes to sex‚ most people are just trying to use the other person.

13. It is possible for the sexes to be equal in society. (Reverse Scored)

14. Men and women share more similarities than differences. (Reverse Scored)

15. It is possible for a man and a woman to be “just friends.” (Reverse Scored)