Psychological Measurements, Sexual Orientation Bias in

Psychological measurement is an important and powerful component of the mental health field. Extremely important educational, occupational, and clinical decisions are made on the basis of psychological evaluations, which are in turn often based heavily on specific psychological measurements. There are two potential points of bias in psychological measurement: (1) bias within the instruments themselves and (2) bias on the part of the clinician who is interpreting the test scores those instruments yield. This entry thoroughly examines those two points of potential bias in psychological measurement as related specifically to sexual orientation.