title: Development and validation of the attitudes about sadomasochism scale.
abstract: This article describes the development and validation of a new measure, the Attitudes about Sadomasochism Scale (ASMS). Exploratory factor analysis with 213 participants yielded four subscales (Socially Wrong, Violence, Lack of Tolerance, and Real Life). Confirmatory factor analysis with a different sample (n = 258) indicated that this four-factor model fit the data well. Validation analyses using all 471 participants showed that the ASMS positively correlated with other measures of social and sexual conservatism (right-wing authoritarianism, attitudes about lesbians and gay men, sexual conservatism, rape myth acceptance). However, a multiple regression analysis showed that the majority of the variance in the ASMS was not explained by the four measures of conservatism, indicating that the ASMS measures a unique attitudinal construct. Further validation analyses revealed that participants who had prior knowledge about sadomasochism (SM), participants who have engaged in SM, and participants who knew a friend involved in SM all endorsed more positive attitudes on the ASMS. Thus, this study presents a reliable and valid measure of stereotypical and prejudicial attitudes about individuals involved in these nontraditional sexual practices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA 17013, USA. yostm@dickinson.edu
authors.forename: Megan R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Yost
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008398:Masochism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012448:Sadism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires