Unmasking the anti-gender mindset: development and validation of the Gender Ideology Belief Scale.

Authors

Ivan Giuseppe Cammarata, Stefano Boca, Rocco Carmine Servidio, Martina Basilico

Published in

Frontiers in psychology. Volume 17. Pages 1931745. Epub Sep 16, 2026.

Abstract

Opposition to gender ideology has become a socially and politically salient phenomenon, yet there is still a lack of validated instruments capable of capturing its multidimensional structure in a systematic way. The present research aimed to develop the Gender Ideology Belief Scale (GIBS), a new measure designed to assess negative attitudes toward gender ideology as a coherent ideological construct.
Across two studies involving Italian participants (total N = 595), the GIBS was developed through a multi-phase process including literature review, analysis of public anti-gender discourse, item generation, expert evaluation, and psychometric testing. In Study 1 (N = 332), exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the most suitable items and examine the latent structure of the scale, whereas in Study 2 (N = 263), confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the factorial structure and assess reliability, construct validity, and criterion validity.
The exploratory factor analysis supported a three-factor solution reflecting conspiratorial beliefs, resistance to gender-inclusive education, and adherence to traditional family values. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a second-order structure in which these three dimensions loaded onto a broader gender ideology factor, and the final 14-item version of the scale demonstrated acceptable reliability and associations with right-wing authoritarianism, sexual prejudice, and conspiracist beliefs.
The GIBS provides researchers with a new instrument for examining opposition to gender ideology as an organized belief system rather than as an isolated attitude. By offering a multidimensional measure of anti-gender beliefs, this scale may support future research on cultural backlash, ideological resistance to social change, and the psychological dynamics underlying contemporary conflicts over gender and diversity.

PMID:
42819411
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 02 Oct 2026.

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