Digital Microaggressions Against LGBTQ+ Youth: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Background and Purpose: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and/or gender minority (LGBTQ+) youth are challenged by prejudice and discrimination. Microaggressions are subtle forms of discrimination that can harm the well-being of minorities. Anti-LGBTQ+ microaggressions include: homophobic and transphobic language and behaviors; exoticization of LGBTQ+ identities; and assumptions that all LGBTQ+ people have the same experiences or are abnormal. With the increasingly widespread use of the internet, anti-LGBTQ+ microaggressions are becoming more prevalent online. However, no instruments measure the experience of anti-LGBTQ+ digital microaggressions. Thus, this study examined the factor structures of two scales of anti-LGBTQ+ digital microaggressions.

Methods: An online survey was administered to 1,804 LGBTQ+ youth aged 14–24 in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Participants were diverse in terms of gender and sexuality. Respondents completed items adapted from existing scales of anti-LGBTQ+ microaggressions in offline environments. That is, items from published scales measuring anti-LGBTQ+ microaggressions were adapted to the digital context to form two scales: (1) microaggressions directed at oneself and (2) microaggressions directed at others. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on each scale using principal axis factoring with oblique rotation. Extraction of factors stopped when eigenvalues were below 1. Items were removed from the final factor structure if they had factor loadings below .30 and cross-loaded onto more than one factor.

Results: Thirteen items were dropped prior to conducting the EFAs because few participants reported experiencing or witnessing those microaggressions online. After removing these items, an EFA was conducted with 19 items meant to represent the Directed at You scale. Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant (χ² = 26596, p < .001) and two factors emerged. The first factor contained 10 items related to being avoided and blamed while the second factor contained 9 items related to minimizing and censuring the experiences of LGBTQ+ people. Another EFA was performed with the remaining 20 items meant to represent the Directed at Others scale. Three items were removed due to poor factor loading and cross-loading onto multiple factors. After removing these three items, an EFA showed there were two factors. Barlett’s test of sphericity was significant (χ² = 15239, p < .001). The first factor contained 14 items related to witnessing negative or untrue statements or portrayals of LGBTQ+ people. The second factor consisted of three items related to witnessing discriminatory language and slurs.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings from the present study provide preliminary evidence for the use of two scales measuring anti-LGBTQ+ microaggressions experienced and witnessed by LGBTQ+ youth online. As LGBTQ+ youth continue to actively use the internet, there remains a need to further examine online experiences with potential to harm their well-being. Future research should continue to use and evaluate the use of these two scales.