Sexual Polarity Scale

Abstract

The Sexual Polarity Scale (SPS) is a 60-item psychometric instrument designed to measure an individual’s ideological orientation across two intertwined dimensions: sexual attitudes and general worldview. It utilizes a forced-choice response format, requiring respondents to choose between two polar opposite statements.

The SPS is composed of two subscales: 30 items measuring Sexual Polarity, which contrasts the restrictive Jehovanist Ideology with the permissive Naturalist Ideology; and 30 selected items from Tomkins’ Polarity Scale (TPS), which contrasts the rigid Normative Ideology with the liberal Humanist Ideology. The resulting scores indicate a relative preference for either a left-wing orientation (Naturalist/Humanist) or a right-wing orientation (Jehovanist/Normative) across both domains.

Keywords

Sexual Polarity Scale, SPS, Sexual Ideology, Jehovanist Ideology, Naturalist Ideology, Tomkins’ Polarity Scale, Normative Ideology, Humanist Ideology, Forced-choice, Sexual attitudes, Worldview.

Authors

Donald L. Mosher, James Sullivan

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Sexual Polarity Scale (SPS) is to operationalize and quantify Sexual Polarity, which is defined as an organized set of ideas and beliefs about sexuality that orders information regarding ideals and aspirations within a sexual worldview. This ideology functions as a cognitive and social script used to interpret, predict, explain, evaluate, or control sexual scenarios.

By integrating items from the established Tomkins’ Polarity Scale, the SPS aims to demonstrate the relationship between specific sexual ideologies (Jehovanist vs. Naturalist) and broader, fundamental philosophical orientations (Normative vs. Humanist), providing a comprehensive measure of the individual’s socio-sexual ideological structure.

Construct

The SPS measures a dual ideological construct polarized along two axes: Sexual and General Ideological. The core concept of Sexual Polarity, derived from Davis (1983), contrasts two fundamental views of sex.

• Jehovanist Ideology (Right-Wing): Adherents believe sex is inherently dirty and dangerous. Except for moderate marital coitus, sexual activity is seen as threatening the dissolution of the individual self and the destruction of the social order.
• Naturalist Ideology (Left-Wing): Adherents are modernists who place sex within a nonsacred, biological context. They view it as natural behavior that occurs commonly across human cultures and in other animal species.

The scale also incorporates the two poles of Tomkins’ general ideology:

• Normative Ideology (Right-Wing): Rooted in Platonic concepts, this view holds that people are fundamentally bad and that reality and value reside in Ideas and Essences. Normatives prioritize law and order, and believe socialization requires conditional love to promote respect for rules and authority.
• Humanist Ideology (Left-Wing): Rooted in the Protagorean view that man is the measure of all things, this view holds that people are basically good. Humanists believe science promotes human realization, government promotes social welfare, and socialization requires unconditional love, sympathy, and play.

Validity

Evidence of construct validity was established through correlational analyses in a study of 140 male undergraduates. The pattern of significant Pearson correlations confirmed theoretical expectations regarding the ideological poles.

Key findings demonstrated that men scoring higher on the Jehovanist subscale, compared to Naturalist men, were significantly associated with several indicators of conservative and restrictive attitudes: higher frequency of church attendance (r=.23), greater involvement in church activities (r=.33), significantly higher sex-guilt scores (r=.56), a stronger preference for the Normative worldview (r=.36), greater intolerance of ambiguity (r=.32), and acceptance of more rape myths (r=.16).

Furthermore, the Normative ideology subscale demonstrated concurrent validity by correlating with traits such as being more macho (r=.22), more intolerant of ambiguity (r=.20), and having a higher proclivity to rape (r=.19), aligning with Tomkins’ original findings supporting the construct validity of the general ideological polarity.

Reliability

Reliability was assessed using internal consistency item analyses derived from the sample of 140 male University of Connecticut undergraduates. The item selection process ensured that 30 items for the sexual polarity subscale (from an initial pool of 40) and 30 items for the TPS component (from 59 items) significantly discriminated the respective polarities at the .95 level of significance.

The internal consistency for the scale components, measured using the Cronbach alpha coefficient, indicated strong reliability:

• The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the sexual Jehovanist/Naturalist polarity was .86.
• The Cronbach alpha coefficient for Tomkins’ normative/humanist polarity was .79.

Factor Analysis

Formal factor analysis details were not provided in the source material. However, the scale is structurally designed to reflect two primary, bipolar factors: the Sexual Ideology dimension and the General Worldview dimension. The rigorous item selection process, which focused on maximizing discrimination between the two poles (Jehovanist/Naturalist and Normative/Humanist), supports the interpretation of the SPS as measuring these two distinct, yet correlated, ideological dimensions.

Instrument

Test Type: Ideological and Attitudinal Self-Report Scale

Format: 60 Forced-choice items (30 sexual, 30 general worldview). Respondents circle the preferred alternative (a or b) or use a machine-scoreable answer sheet.

Language Available: English

Population Group: Adults (validated initially on undergraduate students)

Age Group: College age and older

Population Details: Initial validation sample comprised 140 male University of Connecticut undergraduates.

Test Methodology: The scale requires approximately 13 minutes for completion. Scoring assigns 1 point to right-wing alternatives (Jehovanist or Normative) and 0 points to left-wing alternatives (Naturalist or Humanist). Scores for each subscale range from 0 (pure left-wing adherence) to 30 (pure right-wing adherence).

Keywords

Psychological measurement, Ideology, Sexual attitudes, Sex guilt, Normative behavior, Humanism, Naturalism, Mosher, Sullivan, Forced-choice scale.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected] (Donald L. Mosher)

Correspondence Address: Donald L. Mosher, 648 Ternberry Forest Drive, The Villages, FL 32162

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: Circa 1986 (associated with the Mosher & Sullivan publication).

Permissions & Fee: Details regarding current usage fees or institutional permissions are not provided in the source. Researchers should contact the corresponding author for authorization and the most current version of the scale.

Original Publication: The scale was published and validated as part of academic research by Donald L. Mosher and James Sullivan.

Reference’s

References central to the development and validation of the Sexual Polarity Scale include:

• Davis, M. S. (1983). Smut: Erotic reality/obscene ideology. University of Chicago Press.
• Mosher, D. L., & Sullivan, J. F. (1986). The Sexual Polarity Scale. (Source of development and validity data).
• Tomkins, S. S. (1965). Affect and the psychology of knowledge. American Psychologist, 20(9), 676–687.

Items of the Sexual Polarity Scale

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

1. a) Pornography is disgusting.

   1. 1. So-called pornography can be enjoyable.

2. a) The most important aspect of science is that it enables man to realize himself by gaining understanding and control of the world around him.

   b) The most important aspect of science is that it enables man to separate the true from the false, the right from the wrong, reality from fantasy.

3. a) To assume that most people are well-meaning brings out the best in others.

   b) To assume that most people are well-meaning is asking for trouble.

4. a) Abandoning yourself to pleasure helps to produce orgasmic response.

   b) Sexual abandonment endangers the person’s ability to control his or her own body.

5. a) No government should sanction legalized gambling. Ultimately this will undermine the very foundations of authority.

   b) Legalized gambling is at worst innocuous. At best it lends spice and zest to life.

6. a) What children demand should be of little consequence to their parents.

   b) What children demand, parents should take seriously and try to satisfy.

7. a) The most important thing in the world is to know yourself and be yourself.

   b) The most important thing in the world is to try to live up to the highest standards.

8. a) The sin of fornication can be a worse crime than murder.

   b) It is better to make love than to fight.

9. a) Homosexual teachers have no necessary affect on children’s personality sexual orientation.

   b) Homosexual teachers can corrupt a young mind.

10. a) Sexual fantasy is a way for a person to increase their erotic pleasure through the use of imagination.

    b) Too much thinking about sex is a sign of an impure mind that will be easy prey to sexual temptation.

11. a) Sex undermines the distinction between humans and animals, making people more bestial.

    b) Sex affirms the essential similarity of all of nature’s creatures.

12. a) Juvenile delinquency is simply a reflection of the basic evil in human beings. It has always existed in the past and it always will.

    b) Juvenile delinquency is due to factors we do not understand. When we do understand these we will be able to prevent it in the future.

13. a) When man faces death he learns how basically insignificant he is.

    b) When man faces death he learns who he really is and how much he loved life.

14. a) Pornography pollutes the senses, the self, and the society.

    b) Erotica arouses the senses, frees the self, and purges false prudery from society.

15. a) The child molester deserves society’s help, treatment, and rehabilitation.

    b) The child molester should receive their just deserts-punishment.

16. a) Scientific knowledge provides the best guide to leading a satisfying sex life.

    b) The Bible and religious leaders provide the best guide to leading a moral sex life.

17. a) Pornography is protected by the freedom of speech clause in the First Amendment.

    b) Pornography should not be protected by the First Amendment because it creates a clear and present danger to society.

18. a) The important thing in science is to be right and make as few errors as possible.

    b) The important thing in science is to strike out into the unknown-right or wrong.

19. a) Sexually explicit materials can be used in the classroom to educate young people about the facts of human sexuality.

    b) The danger of sex education in the classroom is that it will corrupt the minds of young people who are open to immoral influences.

20. a) Nudity at public beaches endangers the well-being of the young.

    b) Nudity at public beaches can lead to an appreciation of the human body as part of nature.

21. a) Great achievements require first of all great imagination.

    b) Great achievements require first of all severe self-discipline.

22. a) Engaging in a single homosexual act does not necessarily mean the person has, or will adopt, an identity as a homosexual.

    b) Engaging in a single homosexual act identifies a person as homosexual.

23. a) Although child pornography is distasteful, its influence is overrated.

    b) If child pornography is permitted in any form, civilization, as we know it, is doomed.

24. a) If human beings were really honest with each other, there would be a lot more antipathy and enmity in the world.

    b) If human beings were really honest with each other, there would be a lot more sympathy and friendship in the world.

25. a) Leaders in the public eye have no special moral obligations-they are fallible like all humans.

    b) Sexual morality is necessary in our clergy, government officials, and teachers to uphold the standards of society.

26. a) The beauty of theorizing is that it has made it possible to invent things which otherwise never would have existed.

    b) The trouble with theorizing is that it leads people away from the facts and substitutes opinion for truth.

27. a) Sometimes abortion is the best choice available to a young, unmarried woman.

    b) Abortion is immoral because it takes a human life.

28. a) Sex education in the schools, including teaching about contraception, is the most effective way to reduce teenage pregnancies.

    b) Sex education in the schools threatens to undermine the authority of the family and the morality of the community.

29. a) People should wash their hands and genitals after engaging in sexual relations.

    b) Washing after sex destroys the relaxed mood that is created since it implies that sex is dirty.

30. a) The loss of control during sexual intercourse heightens orgasmic and interpersonal fulfillment.

    b) Sexual intercourse and orgasm resemble having an epileptic fit, lacking the gracefulness and beauty of more refined social inter- action.

31. a) Imagination leads people into self-deception and delusions.

    b) Imagination frees people from the dull routines of life.

32. a) Thinking is responsible for all discovery and invention.

    b) Thinking keeps people on the straight and narrow.

33. a) Observing the world accurately enables human beings to separate reality from imagination.

    b) Observing the world accurately provides a human being with constant excitement and novelty.

34. a) Some people can only be changed by humiliating them.

    b) No one has the right to humiliate another person.

35. a) Sex is so powerful that it alters your moral character, making you more like your partner.

    b) Sex has no more power to alter personality or character than any other form of social interaction.

36. a) The wages of sexual sin is death.

    b) The wages of sexual guilt is sexual inhibition.

37. a) Marital sex can remain exciting if the couple is imaginative and uninhibited.

    b) Marriage is a good remedy for sexual temptation.

38. a) Those who err should be forgiven.

    b) Those who err should be corrected.

39. a) Consenting sex is a worthwhile moral end.

    b) Too often, sex leads people to relate to one another as means rather than as ends.

40. a) Oral and anal sex are more depraved than sexual intercourse.

    b) Oral and anal sex are as morally acceptable as intercourse as long as the couple agrees.

41. a) Any position a couple wants to use during intercourse is normal because preferences for positions vary from culture to culture.

    b) There are natural and unnatural positions for men and women to use during sexual intercourse.

42. a) Whenever a person has difficulty in deciding which of two things to do he should do that which will give him the greatest satisfaction. In the long run that will be the right choice.

    b) Whenever a person has difficulty in deciding which of two things to do he should do what he ought to do, whether it gives him satisfaction or not.

43. a) All of sex is natural, without necessarily having any cosmic or religious significance.

    b) Marital sex, and only marital sex, is sacred-to be regarded with wonder.

44. a) Human sex was set apart forever from animal sex by the divine act that created the human soul.

    b) Human sex is similar, biologically and behaviorally, to sex in primates like the apes.

45. a) Anger should be directed against the oppressors of mankind.

    b) Anger should be directed against those revolutionaries who undermine law and order.

46. a) Masturbation is a normal sexual behavior that has produced needless worries.

    b) At best, masturbation must be controlled; at worst, it is a sinful waste of human seed.

47. a) Familiarity, like absence, makes the heart grow fonder.

    b) Familiarity breeds contempt.

48. a) Reason is the chief means by which human beings make great discoveries.

    b) Reason has to be continually disciplined and corrected by reality and hard facts.

49. a) The changeableness of human feelings is a weakness in human beings.

    b) The changeableness of human feelings makes life more interesting.

50. a) There are a great many things in the world which are good for human beings and which satisfy them in different ways. This makes the world an exciting place and enriches the lives of human beings.

    b) There are a great many things which attract human beings. Some of them are proper, but many are bad for human beings, and some are degrading.

51. a) Psychology studies sexual behavior with the same scientific methods used to study other forms of experience and behavior.

    b) Psychology can only study the surface of sex, not its essence.

52. a) The Kinsey Reports are an example of poor science.

    b) The Kinsey Reports reduced irrational guilt by describing how common many sexual behaviors were.

53. a) Children should be seen and not heard.

    b) Children are entirely delightful.

54. a) For a human being to live a good life he must act like a good man, i.e., observe the rules of morality.

    b) For a human being to live a good life he must satisfy both himself and others.

55. a) Mystical experiences may be sources of insight into the nature of reality.

    b) So-called mystical experiences have most often been a source of delusion.

56. a) Man must always leave himself open to his own feelings–alien as they may sometimes seem.

    b) If sanity is to be preserved, man must guard himself against the intrusion of feelings which are alien to his nature.

57. a) There is no surer road to insanity than surrender to the feelings, particularly those which are alien to the self.

    b) There is a unique avenue to reality through the feelings, even when they seem alien.

58. a) Life sometimes smells bad.

    b) Life sometimes leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

59. a) The mind is like a lamp which illuminates whatever it shines on.

    b) The mind is like a mirror which reflects whatever strikes it.

60. a) Things are beautiful or ugly independent of what human beings think.

    b) Beauty and ugliness are in the eye of the beholder.