Bully Index (BI)

Abstract

The Bully Index (BI) is a specialized psychological scale designed to assess the prevalence and nature of bullying behaviors within a school environment, focusing specifically on the perceptions of educators. Developed by Smith and Hoy (2004), the BI measures two primary dimensions: the extent of Student Bullying and the degree of perceived Teacher Protection and intervention regarding these behaviors. It utilizes a 6-point Likert scale format, allowing for nuanced reporting of school climate issues related to student safety and administrative response.

Keywords

Bully Index, BI, school climate, student bullying, teacher protection, school safety, psychological scale, educational administration, peer victimization.

Authors

Smith, P. A., Hoy, W. K.

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Bully Index (BI) is to provide school administrators and researchers with a reliable instrument for assessing the organizational context of bullying. Unlike measures that focus solely on student reports, the BI captures the perceptions of teachers, offering insight into the frequency of intimidating student behavior and, critically, the effectiveness and inclination of the school staff to intervene or overlook these incidents.

By quantifying these two critical dimensions—the problem itself (Student Bullying) and the institutional response (Teacher Protection)—the scale facilitates targeted interventions aimed at improving school safety and fostering a positive educational environment. It serves as a diagnostic tool for evaluating the efficacy of anti-bullying programs and the overall health of the school climate.

Construct

The Bully Index measures the organizational manifestation of bullying through two distinct but related constructs: Student Bullying and Teacher Protection.

• Student Bullying: This factor assesses the perceived climate of aggression, intimidation, and fear among students within the school setting. Items focus on observable behaviors such as threats, physical harm, intimidation by “ruffians,” and general student fear, reflecting the perceived prevalence and intensity of peer victimization.
• Teacher Protection: This factor measures the perceived institutional response to bullying. High scores on this dimension (after reverse scoring negative items) indicate that teachers actively intervene, protect vulnerable students, and enforce rules against intimidation. Conversely, low scores suggest that staff may overlook incidents or fail to provide adequate support, contributing to a culture of impunity.

Validity

While the source content does not explicitly list multiple forms of validity evidence (e.g., convergent, discriminant), the foundation of the scale is rooted in a conceptual and empirical analysis of teachers’ perceptions, as detailed in the foundational 2004 publication. This initial work provides evidence of construct validity through factor analysis, confirming that the items load coherently onto the anticipated dimensions of Student Bullying and Teacher Protection.

The scale’s face validity is high, as the items directly address observable behaviors related to school aggression and staff response. Further academic use of the BI in subsequent studies implicitly supports its utility and external validity in measuring relevant school climate variables.

Reliability

The reliability of the Bully Index is demonstrated through strong estimates of internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha) for both subscales, based on the original empirical analysis. These high coefficients indicate that the items within each factor are highly intercorrelated and reliably measure their respective constructs.

• Student Bullying Subscale: Internal consistency estimate of 0.96.
• Teacher Protection Subscale: Internal consistency estimate of 0.73.

The exceptionally high alpha for the Student Bullying scale suggests excellent internal consistency, while the Teacher Protection subscale demonstrates acceptable reliability for research purposes, confirming the scale’s stability in measuring teacher perceptions.

Factor Analysis

The Bully Index was developed and refined using factor analysis to ensure a clear dimensional structure consistent with the conceptual framework. The analysis confirmed a robust two-factor structure, successfully differentiating between the student behaviors themselves and the teacher/institutional response to those behaviors.

The resulting factors are: (1) Student Bullying (comprising 8 items: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 12) and (2) Teacher Protection (comprising 5 items: 3, 4, 7, 11, and 13). This clear separation reinforces the scale’s ability to measure both the problem and the organizational climate surrounding the issue of bullying.

Instrument

Test Type: Psychological scale / Organizational climate assessment instrument.

Format: Self-report scale administered to school personnel (Likert type).

Language Available: English (Original development).

Population Group: Educators (Teachers, staff, and potentially administrators).

Age Group: Adult (Professionals working in educational settings).

Population Details: The scale is specifically designed to capture the organizational perceptions and experiences of teachers regarding the social dynamics, safety culture, and institutional response to aggression within their school.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate their agreement with 13 statements using a 6-point Likert scale, where 1= Strongly Disagree, 2= Disagree, 3= Somewhat Disagree, 4= Somewhat Agree, 5= Agree, and 6= Strongly Agree. Items 3 and 7 are reverse-scored to ensure consistent interpretation of the Teacher Protection subscale, where a high score indicates active protection.

Keywords

School environment, organizational assessment, educator perception, institutional response, peer aggression, W. K. Hoy, P. A. Smith.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source. Additional information may be found via W. K. Hoy’s academic website.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The original instrument was published in 2004, accompanying the foundational journal article. Information regarding current usage permissions and associated fees should be sought directly from the authors or their affiliated institutions (e.g., Wayne K. Hoy). The original PDF of the instrument, provided by W. K. Hoy, suggests accessibility for academic research. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.waynekhoy.com/pdfs/Bully_Scale.pdf.

Reference’s

• Smith, P. A. & Hoy, W. K. (2004). Teachers’ perceptions of student bullying: A conceptual and empirical analysis. Journal of School Leadership, 14, 308-326.

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Items of the Bully Index (BI)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Students in this school fear other students.

2. Bullying students is commonplace in this school.

3. Teachers in this school generally overlook student bullying.

4. Teachers in this school reach out to help students who are harassed by other students.

5. Student ruffians in this school intimidate other students.

6. Students in this school make fun of other students.

7. In this school, teachers ignore students intimidating other students.

8. Students in this school threaten others with physical harm.

9. Students threaten other students in this school.

10. In this school, there are too many student thugs.

11. In this school, students intimidating other students is not permitted.

12. Rowdy student behaviour is common in this school.

13. In this school, teachers try to protect students who are different.