Stigma domain: Enacted
Intersectional Major Discrimination Scale (InDI-M)
SCALE Overview
Intersectional Major Discrimination Scale (InDI-M) is a 13-item self-report instrument that measures individuals’ experiences of major or structural discrimination events throughout their lifetime—such as being unfairly fired, denied housing, excluded from education, or mistreated by law enforcement. The InDI-M captures severe, high-impact forms of enacted stigma that occur across various institutional and societal domains. It is an attribution-free measure grounded in intersectionality and stigma theory, allowing individuals to report experiences of major discrimination “because of who you are” with options as 0 (never), 1 (once), or 2 (more than once; or in more than one place for Item 9). Respondents indicate whether they have ever experienced each of the 13 events, enabling assessment of lifetime exposure to systemic or institutional discrimination.
Psychometric validation supports the InDI-M as a unidimensional scale with strong internal consistency. Higher InDI-M scores have been observed among individuals with intersecting marginalized identities, such as racial/ethnic and sexual/gender minorities, immigrants, and people experiencing homelessness. The InDI-M is suitable for use in diverse populations and settings, like education, employment, housing, healthcare, and the justice system to inform research and interventions addressing social inequality and systemic exclusion.
Associated Publications
SCALE Documentation
Please click on the below scale documentation to download a .pdf of the scale instrument in the selected language.
Intersectional Day-to-day Discrimination Scale (InDI-D)
SCALE Overview
Developed as part of the broader Intersectional Discrimination Index (InDI), the InDI-D is an attribution-free measure grounded in intersectionality and stigma theory that does not require respondents to ascribe incidents to any specific social identity category. Each item assesses perceived unfair treatment “because of who you are” on a four-point frequency scale (response options ranging from “never” to “yes, many times in the past year”), capturing both lifetime occurrence and recent frequency of day-to-day discrimination.
Initial validation studies support the InDI-D as a unidimensional scale with robust psychometric properties, and individuals with intersecting marginalized identities (e.g., racial/ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, or people experiencing homelessness) report higher InDI-D scores, demonstrating its sensitivity to intersectional stigma. As an integral component of the InDI, the day-to-day discrimination scale can be applied across diverse settings – including healthcare, employment, housing, education, and law enforcement – to assess the prevalence and impact of routine discrimination and to inform interventions addressing social inequities in populations with overlapping marginalized identities.
Associated Publications
SCALE Documentation
Please click on the below scale documentation to download a .pdf of the scale instrument in the selected language.
