MEASUREMENT INVARIANCE OF THE BRIEF FEAR OF NEGATIVE EVALUATION SCALE ACROSS SEXUAL AND GENDER IDENTITY GROUPS

Construction of a psychological measure requires a validation process to make sure that the measure works the same way in different populations. That is, the instrument must be shown to measure the same latent variable in the same way for each population in which it’s used (i.e., the instrument must demonstrate measurement invariance). Overlooking this step could allow a measure to be misused in populations, which is most likely to affect underrepresented populations. The Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation 2.0 (BFNE) is a measure designed to test the extent to which a person fears and avoids situations where they might experience being negatively evaluated by peers or others in social situations. Concerns of negative evaluation held by members of minority groups likely differ from the fears observed among members of majority groups. Thus, it’s reasonable to question whether the BFNE performs differently in these populations. LGBT individuals represent a diverse population that could be impacted by fear of negative evaluation in a different way than their heterosexual or cisgender peers. The minority stress theory suggests that LGBT people will be at a higher baseline of mental health concerns merely by living in a society that does not fully affirm LGBT individuals, which might lead to a disparity in the way LGBT people perceive social situations wherein they might be evaluated. Therefore, the BFNE’s measurement invariance between LGBT and non-LGBT individuals needs to be investigated.