Greek Validation of the Scale on Beliefs About Children’s Adjustment in Same-Sex Families (SBCASSF)

Abstract

This study validates the Beliefs About Children’s Adjustment in Same-Sex Families Scale (BCASSFS) in the Greek societal context where recent advancements in LGBTQIA+ rights intersect with traditional cultural values and overt hostile discrimination as well as modern covert prejudice against same sex parenting. The BCASSFS was created to capture the latter more socially acceptable and subtle prejudice that rejects same-sex parenting based on the welfare of children’s development. Data from 361 heterosexual participants (52.08% females) revealed that personal biases such as religiosity, conservative attitudes, and beliefs about the acquired nature of sexual orientation formed an Individual Opposition (IO) factor, whereas attitudes of socially acceptable concerns tied to cultural and societal norms formed a Normative Opposition (NO) one. Both factors demonstrated high internal consistency and were defined by the same items as the respective IO and NO factors in the validation of the original BCASSFS. Gender differences were observed, with men expressing greater IO and NO than women. Moreover, irrespective of gender, IO scores were lower than NO, following the lines of the more socially acceptable modern prejudice. The present psychometric validation of the BCASSFS is a useful addition to the utility of the instrument in different cultural settings. Further, it offers a robust tool for future research and intervention programs aimed at reducing prejudice and supporting equal family rights.

Keywords

• attitudes
• same-sex parenting
• children’s adjustment
• psychometric properties
• religiosity
• political conservatism
• greek population