Development and validation of the Attitudes Towards Asexuals (ATA) scale

Although asexuality (i.e., lack of sexual attraction) is receiving increasing public and academic attention, anti-asexual bias has been the focus of little empirical study. Here, we develop a measure of anti-asexual bias, the Attitudes Towards Asexuals (ATA) scale, consisting of a 16-item factor with strong reliability (alpha = .94). The ATA demonstrated convergent validity in terms of correlations with individual differences (e.g., positive relations with Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation) and anti-asexual behavioural intentions (e.g., discomfort renting to and hiring asexuals, contact avoidance). Further, these relations were statistically unique from singlism (i.e., bias against singles). In addition, we found relations between greater ATA and greater sexism, greater traditional gender norm endorsement and lower past intergroup contact with asexuals, suggesting potential avenues for expanding our understanding of anti-asexual bias. Implications for examining anti-asexual bias as a distinct form of sexual prejudice are discussed.