Psychometric Properties of the Bisexual Microaffirmation Scale: For Women in a Sample of Bisexual + Women and Nonbinary People of Color

Abstract

Though the Bisexual Microaffirmation Scale: For Women (BMSFW) was originally created to help mental health clinicians and researchers understand bisexual women’s experiences of stigma and affirmation, the scale has so far only been used with predominantly White samples. The present study used a sample 209 majority bisexual cisgender women from marginalized racial-ethnic backgrounds to test the psychometric properties of the BMFSW. This study’s findings include the BMSFW’s convergent validity with previously developed bisexual and queer specific scales and discriminant validity with the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding Short Form Impression Management subscale (BIDR-IM). This study also suggests a different factor structure than the one initially proposed by the original authors. The present study provides insight to the still underexamined construct, microaffirmations, and also extends beyond previous research on bisexual + individuals by highlighting the importance and need for more research and scales that look at the intersection and experiences of bisexual + women and nonbinary people of color.