Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2506
https://doi.org/
10.69639/arandu.v12i3.1489
Discrimination in dating apps in the LGBT community:

Construction and validation of an instrument

Discriminación en aplicaciones de citas en la comunidad LGBT: Construcción y
validación de un instrumento

Julia María Marroquín Figueroa

julia.marroquin@unach.mx

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2263-3365

Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas

Jorge Alberto Esponda Pérez

jorge.esponda@unicach.mx

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6821-5361

Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas

Mónica Juárez Ibarias

monica.juarez@unach.mx

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4561-7396

Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas

Juan Manuel Tapia de Aquino

juan.tapia@unach.mx

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3290-8878

Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas

Dolores Guadalupe Sosa Zúñiga

dolores.sosa@unicach.mx

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0395-3766

Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas

Artículo recibido: 18 julio 2025 - Aceptado para publicación: 28 agosto 2025

Conflictos de intereses: Ninguno que declarar.

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the Discrimination Scale in LGBT dating apps in adults in Chiapas, Mexico.

In this exploratory and psychometric research, 640 members of the LGBT community actively

participated. A two
-factor structure was validated: individual and group discrimination. When
analyzing the frequency of responses for the 17 items, it was observed that items 14 to 16

predominate with responses of “Almost every day”, while for the others, the most common

response was “Every day”. In addition, verifying the C
ronbach's Alpha values, it is observed that
the standardized coefficient is .921, the 95% confidence interval is within the range considered

acceptable. These results highlight the ability of the scale to measure this phenomenon in the

LGBT community, sugg
esting its usefulness both in Chiapas, Mexico, and possibly in other
similar contexts.

Keywords
: discrimination, LGBT, dating apps, psychometric properties, validation
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2507
RESUMEN

Este estudio analiza la Escala de Discriminación en aplicaciones de citas LGBT en adultos en
Chiapas, México. En esta investigación exploratoria y psicométrica, participaron activamente 640
miembros de la comunidad LGBT. Se validó una estructura de dos factores: discriminación
individual y discriminación grupal. Al analizar la frecuencia de respuestas para los 17 ítems, se
observó que los ítems 14 a 16 predominan con respuestas de "Casi todos los días", mientras que
para los demás, la respuesta más común fue "Todos los días". Además, al verificar los valores del
Alfa de Cronbach, se observa que el coeficiente estandarizado es de .921, y el intervalo de
confianza del 95% se encuentra dentro del rango considerado aceptable. Estos resultados resaltan
la capacidad de la escala para medir este fenómeno en la comunidad LGBT, sugiriendo su utilidad
tanto en Chiapas, México, como posiblemente en otros contextos similares.

Palabras clave: discriminación, LGBT, aplicaciones de citas, propiedades psicométricas,
validación

Todo el contenido de la Revista Científica Internacional Arandu UTIC publicado en este sitio está disponible bajo
licencia Creative Commons Atribution 4.0 International.
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2508
INTRODUCTION

Dating apps is one of the longest chapters in the history of media forms of matchmaking

for both erotic and affective relationships. This search began with postal mail in the 19th century,

then with advertisements in the print media and the emergence of ma
tchmaking agencies in the
1960s, some of which operated internationally. In the 1990s, television dating programs became

popular, such as the paradigmatic case in Argentina of “Yo me quiero casar, y usted?”, hosted by

Roberto Galán. In addition, in that sa
me decade the first dating websites emerged, with a
remarkable impact, as evidenced by the fact that in 1998 5% of heterosexual cisgender couples in

the United Kingdom had met online
(Abad García et al., 2011; Allport, 1954).
On the other hand, information and communication technology (ICT)
-mediated
sociosexual experiences have become part of everyday life for both men and women who have

same
-gender sex in urban contexts. Both men and women value the sexual freedom and autonomy
that dating apps provide, while ensuring their physical and online safety
(Parra & Obando, 2019).
These platforms not only facilitate contact with potential sexual partners, but also promote social

interaction between people with similar sexual preference
s, in a specific and relatively private
environment that allows escaping heteronormative surveillance through various concealment or

anonymity strategies
(Blackwell et al., 2015).
For more than a decade, studies on online encounters between gay men have been

conducted in English
-speaking countries, mainly from behavioral and public health perspectives
(Chetcuti
-Osorovitz, 2016). In Latin America, research on sexuality in digital environments has
gained popularity with the increase in Internet use and its influence on sociocultural processes.

Beginning in the late 2000s, texts in Spanish address topics such as sexual dissidence,
subversive
gender manifestations, trans epistemologies, and virtual cruising, a
mong others (Fonseca &
Quinter, 2009
; Limón Piris, 2017).
In addition, location
-centric social networks for dating, known as Mobile Mediated
Relationships (MMR), have experienced exponential growth in recent years. While these

platforms have a variety of uses, much of their popularity is due to the ability to hav
e casual
encounters. Many of these face
-to-face encounters, known as face-to-face (FTF), occur after
initially meeting through an MMR. Although there have always been means of real
-life contact
(IRL) such as advertisements or phone lines, new online dating
apps have radically transformed
the way people look for a partner or sex. To analyze this change, focused on the gay community,

using two of the most popular mobile dating apps among this group are highlighted, such as

Grindr and Tinder
(Ato et al., 2013).
It is worth noting, that in the case of Grindr©, it is an application designed to facilitate

casual encounters, also known as hook ups. It could best be described as a “sociosexual”

networking platform, as it highlights interpersonal communication processe
s between those who
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2509
are open to establishing connections of an erotic, platonic and practical nature, sometimes

simultaneously. The emergence and popularity of Grindr© respond to the needs of a generally

discriminated and stigmatized sector of the population, who find in this
application an opportunity
to socialize with other men without exposing themselves to th
e dangers of the everyday world
(Sanz Menéndez, 2003)
.
In addition, we have Tinder, whose name derives from “dry and flammable material, such

as wood or paper, used to light a fire”. This definition is reflected in the company's logo, a flame,

which evokes the idea of a romantic spark between the two people ma
tched, known as a “match,”
which is more associated with heterosexual relationships
( Aunspach, 2015). According to theorist
VanderMolen, heterosexual people often prefer a traditional approach to dating, where traditional

gender roles are maintained, such as the man assuming the role of initiator of verbal contact and

the woman following his lead. VanderMo
len's observation, as well as Aunspach's assumption of
heterosexual
-only romantic relationships, could be related to the name of the app (Viladrich et
al., 2017)
.
Until now, apart from the difference in sexual preferences, another significant distinction

between these two applications was that Tinder required users to select their photos and

information from their Facebook account, which had a significant impact on
their level of trust.
Today, however, Tinder, like Grindr, has eliminated the requirement to link the account with

Facebook. In addition, the process of selecting potential partners differs between the two

platforms. While on Grindr you can send messages t
o all the profiles that appear, on Tinder a
mutual acceptance of both parties is required to start a conversation. Grindr displays twelve

profiles on the first screen, while on Tinder each profile is displayed individually. In terms of

relationships, Grind
r tends to be more immediate than Tinder. In terms of images, Tinder allows
viewing in larger size and uploading up to five images, while Grindr only allows a single image

(Antheunis et al., 2007)
.
In the same way that new gender and body identities have emerged that do not fit the

traditional categories in networking sites, certain phobias have also emerged that represent a threat

to many of the freedoms won by the LGBT community. This refers specif
ically to transphobia
and plumophobia. Faced with these facts, the company responsible for Grindr has responded

through the series of episodes #kindr on its Youtube channel, where it gives voice to users who

feel discriminated against in the application du
e to sexual racism, transphobia or for not meeting
current beauty standards. In this same context, the non
-profit campaign #stopplumophobia has
emerged in Spain, which seeks to make visible and raise awareness about the damage caused by

“lgtbiphobia” withi
n the LGBT community itself (Attrill, 2012).
Therefore, in several countries around the world, the LGBT community (lesbian, gay,

bisexual, transgender and other sexual orientations different from heterosexuality) faces

discrimination, prejudice and social marginalization. Despite the historical advan
ces made by
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2510
members of this community in favor of equality, society still tends to consider heterosexuality

and conformity to the gender identity assigned at birth as social and cultural norms. This

phenomenon, known as “heteronormativity,” contributes to stigmatizati
on and prejudice towards
LGBT people in society, generating a negative valuation based on their sexual orientation

(Francia Martínez et al., 2017
; Fernández Rodríguez & Squiabro , 2014).
The study of online dating has grown in academic research on LGBT and discrimination,

exploring topics such as self
-representation, communication, and authenticity in mobile apps
(Dawson & McIntosh, 2006;
Antheunis et al., 2007; Gibbs et al., 2011). Representations of
identity, gender and sexual differences in online dating have been analyzed
(Morgan et al., 2010).
In Spain, studies on social network analysis, new trends in networks and usefulness in

collaborative learning stand out
(Flores Vivar, 2009). Gender representation in location-based
dating applications has also been investigated
(Bostwick et al., 2014).
Scientific research confirms that discrimination, directed toward both the LGBT

community and other marginalized groups, is a pervasive social phenomenon that has serious

repercussions on the mental health of those affected
(Burgess et al., 2007) (Woodford et al., 2015).
Although the detrimental impact on psychological well
-being is recognized, in Mexico there is
no specific scale to assess perceived discrimination by LGBT individuals, especially as it relates

to the use of dating apps. The creation and val
idation of such a scale would be very useful for the
scientific community, not only in Mexico but worldwide, as it would provide information about

the experiences of this group and facilitate the implementation of organizations, institutional

programs and
public policies that support the LGBT community (Bostwick et al., 2014).
Therefore, with this research we sought to develop and validate an instrument to measure

perceived discrimination at the individual and group level within the LGBTQ collective within

dating apps. It is intended to verify whether the psychometric properties
of the instrument support
its usefulness in both clinical and research contexts. In addition, we seek to determine whether

the factorial structure of the instrument reflects the two proposed dimensions: individual

discrimination and group discrimination.
To achieve this, analyses of the psychometric properties
of the instrument were carried out, with the aim of providing the scientific community with a

valid and reliable tool that contributes to the study of this phenomenon in a Mexican city, the

same coun
try and Latin America.
METHODOLOGY

Design

This study adopts an instrumental research design
Ato et al., (2013), focused on analyzing
the psychometric properties of the Discrimination Scale in dating apps within the LGBT

community, with the purpose of validating it in the city of Chiapas, Mexico.
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2511
Participants

A non
-probabilistic sample composed of 640 individuals belonging to the LGBT
community in the city of Chiapas, Mexico was used. The inclusion criteria established for

participation in the study were: (1) being at least 21 years of age, (2) residing in the
city of
Chiapas, Mexico, and (3) identifying as part of the LGBT community.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Instruments

A questionnaire was used to collect general data and to sociodemographically characterize

the participants. We inquired about their age, sexual orientation and marital status (Table 1).

Table 1

Sociodemographic information of the sample

Variable
Category f %
Age

18-27
27 4,22
28-37
159 24,84
38-47
296 46,25
48-57
148 23,23
58 or more
10 1,56
Relationship
status

Single
233 36,61
Engagement
56 8,75
Married
22 3,44
Cohabitation
329 51,41
Sexual
orientation

Gay
89 13,91
Lesbian
36 5,63
Bisexual
313 48,91
Transgender
146 22,81
Other
56 8,75
Note. N:640

The LGBT Dating Discrimination Scale was designed by researchers to assess

discrimination experienced by individuals who identify as part of the LGBT community. The

instrument consists of 30 statements are distributed in seven dimensions: General context (
7
items, not included in the validation) Discrimination outside the app (4 items, 3 included in the

validation), Interactions within the app (5 items, 4 included in the validation), Sexual racism in

the app (3 items, all included in the validation), Discri
mination based on physical appearance (3
items, all included in the validation), Motivations and actions within the application (4 items, 3
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2512
included in the validation), and Results of the use of the application (3 items, all included in the

validation). The 17 items subject to validation use a five
-point Likert scale, ranging from 1
(Never) to 5 (Every day).

Procedures

Data collection was conducted through questionnaires on the Google Forms platform, using

dating apps (Grindr, Tinder, Wapa, Manhunt, and Every) to recruit participants. An informed

consent form was implemented that included (a) the purpose of the study, (b
) the voluntary nature
of participation, (c) potential risks and benefits, (d) the participant's right to withdraw, (e)

institutional affiliation, and (f) the researchers' contact details. Subsequently, the collected data

were analyzed using R version 4.3.
3, performing descriptive analysis, exploratory factor analysis,
item discrimination analysis, reliability analysis, comparative analysis and correlation analysis

between factors.

For the exploratory factor analysis, the principal axis extraction method with orthogonal

rotation was used to identify the latent variables underlying the items. This approach was selected

for two main reasons: first, the principal axis extraction method
does not require assumptions of
normality
Fabrigar et al., (1999), and second, orthogonal rotation is suitable for this purpose. To
determine the number of factors, two criteria were used: the sedimentation plot (Scree Test) and

the amount of variance expl
ained by the extracted factors. The sedimentation plot seeks to identify
the factors whose associated values are large enough to be considered. The inflection point on the

graph indicates the number of factors to be extracted. Regarding the second criterio
n, Hatcher
(1994) suggests considering factors that explain at least 5% of the variance. In this study, two

factors met these criteria. As an acceptance criterion, items with a factor loading greater than .50

on a single factor were considered
.
To evaluate the discriminatory capacity of the factor items, the item
-total correlation index
(rbis) was calculated. Those items whose values were within the range of .30 to .70 were

considered appropriate
(Field, 2013). To determine the reliability of the factors, Cronbach's alpha
coefficient and the Spearman
-Brown split-half were calculated. DeVellis & Thorpe, (2017) states
that indices above .70 are acceptable, while those between .80 and .90 are considered good.

However, he suggests that if the alphas are greater than .90, consideration should be given to

revising the scale and reducing its length. On the other hand,
Campo-Arias & Oviedo, (2008),
point out that indices above .90 may indicate redundancy or duplication
of items, which implies
that at least a couple of items measure the same aspect of the construct and one of them should

be eliminated.

To carry out the confirmatory factor analysis, the R statistical program was used. The

maximum likelihood estimation method was employed together with the corrections of Satorra

and Bentler
(Fingerhut et al., 2010). To evaluate the model fit, several goodness-of-fit indices
were used, such as the chi
-square (χ2), the root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA),
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2513
the Tucker
-Lewis index (TLI) and the comparative fit index (CFI). For the model to be considered
acceptable, CFI and TLI values were required to be ≥ .90, and RMSEA values were required to

be ≤ .08
(Byrne, 2010) (Hu & Bentler, 1999). In addition, it was established that the regression
coefficients of each item in its respective factor should exceed .
50 (Hair, 2006).
Validation of the discrimination scale in dating apps in the LGBT community

Exploratory data analysis

In order to be able to understand the relationships between the values obtained during the

application of the instrument, an exploratory data analysis was performed, for which a frequency

distribution of all items was constructed, as well as the main stati
stical measures were calculated.
Table 2 contains the frequency distribution for the 17 items of the instrument that will be

analyzed with the psychometric tools. It is observed that, for items 14 to 16, the predominant

category is Almost every day, with absolute frequencies ranging from
282 (item 15 - 44.06% of
the sample) to 299 (item 16
- 46.72% of the sample) cases; while, for the other items, the modal
class is Every day, with frequencies ranging from 291 cases (item 23
- 45.47% of the sample) to
386 cases (item 27
- 60.31% of the sample).
Table 2

Frequency distribution by item

1
2 3 4 5
fa
% fa % fa % fa % Fa %
It14
11 1.72 73 11.41 130 20.31 285 44.53 141 22.03
It15
15 2.34 37 5.78 121 18.91 282 44.06 185 28.91
It16
11 1.72 55 8.59 125 19.53 299 46.72 150 23.44
It17
5 0.78 29 4.53 86 13.44 179 27.97 341 53.28
It18
5 0.78 30 4.69 94 14.69 171 26.72 340 53.13
It19
10 1.56 17 2.66 54 8.44 179 27.97 380 59.38
It20
2 0.31 3 0.47 71 11.09 215 33.59 349 54.53
It21
6 0.94 49 7.66 100 15.63 157 24.53 328 51.25
It22
3 0.47 19 2.97 84 13.13 205 32.03 329 51.41
It23
7 1.09 39 6.09 117 18.28 186 29.06 291 45.47
It24
8 1.25 14 2.19 75 11.72 169 26.41 374 58.44
It25
4 0.63 30 4.69 85 13.28 179 27.97 342 53.44
It26
7 1.09 27 4.22 95 14.84 173 27.03 338 52.81
It27
8 1.25 19 2.97 55 8.59 172 26.88 386 60.31
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2514
It28
3 0.47 4 0.63 72 11.25 212 33.13 349 54.53
It29
7 1.09 49 7.66 100 15.63 160 25.00 324 50.63
It30
4 0.63 20 3.13 84 13.13 205 32.03 327 51.09
Table 3 shows the summary statistics of the items analyzed. It is reported that the highest

average corresponds to item 27, with a value of 4.42, while the lowest average is item 14 with a

value of 3.74. Analyzing the dispersion of the data (measured throu
gh the standard deviation), it
is reported that this value ranges from 0.73 (item 20) to 1.02 (item 29). All the reported skewness

coefficients (measuring the asymmetry of the data) are negative, indicating that the general

tendency of the data is to accum
ulate on the right side of the spectrum, that is, on the higher values
of the scale; thus, all the reported averages have values higher than the central value of the scale.

To determine the shape of the curve of the data, the kurtosis was checked; only item 14

reports a negative kurtosis, which means that the data present a lower proportion of outliers

compared to a normal distribution; while the rest of the items have positi
ve values, which means
that these items present a sharper frequency distribution (i.e., with a greater tendency to report

more extreme outliers than a normal distribution). All the items analyzed report a positive item
-
total correlation, which indicates th
at all the items that make up the data set analyzed grow or
decrease in the same direction, the range of values reported is within the acceptable range
(Ato et
al., 2013
; Campo-Arias & Oviedo, 2008).
Table 3

Summary statistics by item

Media
Desv Est Sesgo Curtosis CIT
It14
3.74 0.98 -0.61 -0.17 0.69
It15
3.91 0.96 -0.87 0.61 0.64
It16
3.82 0.95 -0.73 0.22 0.66
It17
4.28 0.92 -1.19 0.79 0.67
It18
4.27 0.93 -1.14 0.58 0.68
It19
4.41 0.87 -1.71 2.99 0.63
It20
4.42 0.73 -1.09 0.94 0.65
It21
4.18 1.02 -1.01 0.03 0.71
It22
4.31 0.84 -1.12 0.80 0.67
It23
4.12 0.98 -0.90 0.03 0.70
It24
4.39 0.87 -1.50 2.10 0.64
It25
4.29 0.91 -1.18 0.70 0.68
It26
4.26 0.94 -1.18 0.78 0.68
It27
4.42 0.86 -1.67 2.74 0.64
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2515
It28
4.41 0.75 -1.18 1.35 0.63
It29
4.16 1.02 -1.01 0.07 0.71
It30
4.30 0.86 -1.15 0.93 0.64
Reliability Analysis

To verify the reliability of the model, the Cronbach's Alpha, the two halves and omega

models were used, the results are shown in Table 4 Verifying the Cronbach's Alpha values, it is

observed that the standardized coefficient is .921, the 95% confidence in
terval is within the range
considered acceptable. Through the method of the two halves, values between .846 and .964 are

reported with an average of 0.918, being similar to those obtained with Cronbach's Alpha.

Analyzing the value of the omega coefficient,
it is reported that the model is able to explain
96.70% of the variability, the analysis of the hierarchical omega reveals that 84.4% of the

variability is attributable to the general factor of each model; all the values mentioned are within

the range con
sidered acceptable as stated by both (Viladrich et al., 2017) and (Campo-Arias &
Oviedo, 2008)
.
Table 4

Summary of reliability measures

Method
Indicator Value
Alfa
Cronbach

non-standardized
.921
standarized 3)
.921
IC 95%

lower
.912
Media
.921
Superior
.930
two halves

Maximum
4) .964
Media
.918
Mínimum (β)
.846
Quantiles

2.5%
.881
50.0%
.918
97.5%
.955
Omega
hierarchical h) .844
Total (ωt)
.967
Figure 1 represents the histogram of the 24310 reliability values obtained through the two

halves method. It can be seen that the group with the highest absolute frequency is the one between

0.915 and 0.920, with 3036 cases, representing 12.49% of the samp
le; followed by the group of
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2516
0.930
-0.935, with 2886 cases reported, equivalent to 11.87% of the values obtained by the
method.

In summary, all the methods used reported values higher than the minimum

recommended by the specialized literature
(DeVellis & Thorpe, 2017). Which allows affirming
that the instrument has the properties of stability, reproducibility and consistency, so it can be

used in the measurement of perceived discrimination in dating apps by the LGBT community. On

the other hand, the values of the correlat
ions of each item with respect to the total score report
good internal consistency, which indicates that the items of the instrument are able to distinguish

subjects with different levels of perceived
discrimination (Herrero-Jiménez & Caballero-Gálvez,
2017
; González-Rivera & Pabellón-Lebrón, 2018).
Figure 1

Frequency distribution of reliability
- two halves method
To measure the adequacy of the data through sampling adequacy, a KMO test is developed,

the average value is 0.867, with values ranging from 0.804 (item 17) to 0.985 (item 23); based on

the figures obtained, it is concluded that the analyzed data set has a
degree of common variance
that can be considered meritorious and therefore a principal component analysis (PCA) can be

performed
(Keith, 2015).
Principal Component Analysis

Table 5 shows the result of the Principal Component Analysis for the analyzed variable; it

is reported that the first five components report factor loadings higher than 1, so it is decided to

use that amount of components to develop a model; however, given
the value close to 1 of the
sixth component, a second model with that amount of components will be tested; for the first case

(5 components), the model is able to explain 71. 06% of the variability, while the 6
-component
model manages to agglutinate 76.90
% of the natural dispersion of the data; both values are
considered acceptable according to the literature consulted
(Fabrigar et al., 1999; Wu et al., 2007).
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2517
Table 5

Principal Component Analysis

Component

Principal Component Analysis

factorial
loading

explained
variance

cumulative
variance

PC01
7.54 44.34 44.34
PC02
1.26 7.39 51.72
PC03
1.19 6.99 58.72
PC04
1.08 6.37 65.08
PC05
1.02 5.98 71.06
PC06
0.99 5.84 76.90
PC07
0.79 4.67 81.57
PC08
0.62 3.66 85.24
PC09
0.55 3.21 88.45
PC10
0.53 3.09 91.54
PC11
0.48 2.81 94.35
PC12
0.22 1.28 95.63
PC13
0.20 1.15 96.78
PC14
0.18 1.04 97.82
PC15
0.16 0.93 98.75
PC16
0.12 0.68 99.42
PC17
0.10 0.58 100.00
An orthogonal rotation with the varimax method was used to minimize the number of

variables within each factor
(Field, 2013; Byrne, 2010); the result is shown in Tables 6 (5-
component model) and 7 (6
-component model). For the case of the 5-component model, the
model coefficients range from 0.262 (RC5) to 0.335 (RC1), while, for the 6
-component model,
the range is from 0.235 (RC6) to 0.297 (
RC1).
Table 6

Orthogonal Rotation Results
- 5-Dimensional Model
Media
Desv Est Minimum Maximum
RC1
0.335 0.232 0.154 0.796
RC2
0.303 0.239 0.062 0.873
RC3
0.295 0.239 0.121 0.885
RC4
0.288 0.240 0.078 0.877
RC5
0.262 0.242 0.103 0.892
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2518
Table 7

Orthogonal Rotation Results
- 6-Dimensional Model
Media
Desv Est Minimum Maximum
RC1
0.297 0.238 0.134 0.886
RC2
0.292 0.239 0.123 0.881
RC3
0.281 0.241 0.116 0.892
RC4
0.259 0.242 0.099 0.892
RC5
0.261 0.240 0.110 0.884
RC6
0.235 0.241 0.111 0.875
Analysis of the models

Finally, to evaluate the quality of the developed models, some goodness
-of-fit indexes are
calculated, whose values are reported in Table 8. It is reported that, for both models, all the

calculated parameters are within the ranges recommended by the specia
lized literature (Abad
García et al., 2011
; Hu & Bentler, 1999; Li, 2016): considered as normal or regular, so it is stated
that the developed models have a consistent or valid structure; however, the 6
-component model
reports better values than the 5
-component model, which is why the first one is selected.
Table 8

Goodness
-of-fit indices for the models developed
Indicator
n=5 n=6
CFI
0.841 0.912
TLI
0.797 0.885
RMSEA

Media
0.127 0.097
IC90-low
0.120 0.091
IC90-upper
0.134 0.104
SRMR
0.126 0.125
Once the number and composition of the dimensions of the instrument were obtained, we

proceeded to verify the behavior patterns of each of the dimensions. Comparing the means, it is

reported that Dimension 02 has the highest average of the group, with a va
lue of 4.48, while
Dimension 05 reports the lowest average, with a value of 4.26. All dimensions, as well as the total

score, report bias coefficient with negative values, which indicates that the general tendency is

the predominance of high values, that i
s, the data are positioned in such a way that the average is
higher than the median. Verifying the kurtosis values, it is reported that Dimension 04 reports a

negative value, which indicates that the general tendency of the data is to have a more flattened
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2519
or flattened structure than the normal distribution, while the rest of the dimensions present a

distribution of data with a greater concentration of values around the mean (Table 9).

Table 9

Summary statistics by dimension

Dim01
Dim02 Dim03 Dim04 Dim05 Dim06 Total
Media
4.30 4.48 4.31 4.42 4.26 4.27 4.44
Desv Est
0.91 0.79 0.81 0.70 0.96 0.90 0.71
Sesgo
-1.22 -1.78 -1.00 -0.81 -1.08 -1.06 -0.98
Curtosis
0.90 3.60 0.35 -0.46 0.25 0.35 0.03
CIT
0.75 0.70 0.63 0.62 0.74 0.68 ---
Segmentation analysis

In order to detect possible behavioral patterns, a segmentation analysis was developed,

determining that the optimal number of segments is 2, Table 10 shows the summary statistics. It

is observed that segment 1 reports a mean of 3.706 and a standard deviat
ion of 0.489, while
segment 2 has a higher mean (4.952) and a lower standard deviation (0.213) compared to segment

1. Figure 2 shows the differences in data density for both segments, a test of difference of means

reveals the existence of a significant dif
ference (t= -38.788, p<0.05) in the levels of discrimination
for both segments. For this reason, individuals belonging to segment 2 can be referred to as

“individuals with a high level of perceived discrimination” in the sense that they report very high

le
vels of discrimination, either towards themselves or towards other people they know. This
higher level of perception group is often characterized by higher levels of anxiety and stress, as

well as other psychophysical manifestations
(Stacey & Forbes, 2022; Wu & Trottier, 2022).
Table 10

Frequency distribution by segment

Segment 1
Segment 2
1
0 0
2
4 0
3
69 0
4
189 18
5
0 360
Total
262 378
Media
3.706 4.952
Desv Est
0.489 0.213
Sesgo
-1.301 -4.265
Curtosis
0.566 16.280
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2520
Figure 2

Discrimination Level by Segment

To verify whether the age range is a predictor of the level of discrimination, an analysis of

variance was performed, the results of which are shown in Table 11 and Figure 3; the analyses

show that there are no significant differences (F=0.568, p>0.05) bet
ween age groups for
discrimination, i.e., the age group is not a determinant of the level of discrimination experienced

in social networks, which is consistent with that reported by works such as
(Luiggi-Hernández et
al., 2015)
or (Lauckner et al., 2019).
Table 11

Analysis of Variance
- Age Discrimination
degrees
freedom

Sum
squares

square
Medium
F p-valor
Age
4 1.1 .2853 .568 0.686
Residual
635 318.7 .5019
Figure 3

Analysis of Variance
- Discrimination by Age Group
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2521
In practical terms, it could be demonstrated that the scale of discrimination in dating

applications in the LGBT community (EDDAC
-LGBT) can be used for the execution of new
works in this area; which constitutes an advance considering the scarce instruments
developed for
the Latin American area. Although the phenomenon of LGBT discrimination and its

repercussions on the physical and mental health of individuals have been investigated since the

1950s with works such as
Lewin, (1952) and Allport, (1954), the literature consulted does not
report a specific instrument to measure the level of discrimination, however, all the literature

consulted reports the impact that discrimination has on aspects such as psychological well
-being,
personal dissatisfaction and se
lf-rejection, altering levels of stress, anxiety and depression
(Bostwick et al., 2014
; González-Rivera & Pabellón-Lebrón, 2018).
CONCLUSIONS

Around the world, the LGBT community has been a constant victim of prejudice and

rejection in the social, occupational, academic and clinical spheres; despite this, there is no

specific instrument for the measurement of discrimination towards the LGBT comm
unity. By
virtue of meeting this need, this article presents the scale of discrimination in dating apps in the

LGBT community (EDDAC
-LGBT), which reports psychometric properties suitable for its use
in the study sample, since it has been shown to have both
validity and reliability. Although it was
possible to demonstrate through inferential statistics that the EDDAC
-LGBT model is invariant
among the age groups considered, it is recommended that an analysis be made relating the values

obtained with the diffe
rent sociodemographic variables. It is recommended that further studies be
conducted in other sample groups in order to corroborate the findings of this research and

determine their applicability in other regions of Mexico.
Vol. 12/ Núm. 3 2025 pág. 2522
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