Setting the Record Straight

Abstract

The Setting the Record Straight instrument is a specialized, 30-item Psychological Scale designed by Gottheil and Dubow to comprehensively assess behavioral indices related to Bullying and Victimization among youth populations. Its unique structure incorporates a standard Self-report component detailing the student’s own behaviors and experiences, alongside a novel dimension measuring the respondent’s Perceived Peer Perception of these behaviors.

This dual assessment methodology provides a critical distinction between an individual’s internal reality (their actions and experiences) and their external social representation (how they believe classmates perceive them regarding bully or victim roles). By capturing both perspectives, the scale offers a robust, multi-faceted view of peer aggression dynamics within the school environment.

Keywords

Bullying, Victimization, Peer Aggression, Perceived Peer Perception, Self-report, School Psychology, Emotional Abuse, Youth Assessment, Social Status, Tripartite Beliefs Model.

Authors

Neil F. Gottheil, Eric F. Dubow.

[quads id=5]

Purpose

The principal objective of the Setting the Record Straight scale is to systematically distinguish between a student’s direct involvement in peer aggression (measured via the Self-report component) and their meta-perception, which is their belief about how their peers view their involvement in these behaviors (measured via the Perceived Peer Perception component).

This differentiation is crucial for research into peer relations, as it helps clarify the complex interplay between observable behavior, social reputation, and social adjustment outcomes. By assessing both internal and external representations of status, the scale provides deeper insights into the mechanisms that sustain persistent bully or victim roles in school settings and informs targeted intervention strategies.

Construct

The scale is designed to measure the psychological construct of Behavioral Indices of Bully and Victim Behavior, conceptually grounded in the developers’ proposed Tripartite Beliefs Model. This model posits that an individual’s status within the peer group regarding aggression is determined by their objective actions, their subjective experiences, and their interpretation of the views held by others.

The instrument is structurally divided into four distinct, underlying factors that cross behavioral type with perspective: Self-report Victimization, Self-report Bullying, Perceived Peer Perception Victimization, and Perceived Peer Perception Bullying. The items encompass both direct physical aggression (e.g., hitting, pushing) and subtler forms of relational aggression (e.g., name-calling, teasing).

Validity

Initial psychometric studies (Gottheil & Dubow, 2001a, 2001b) confirm that the scale possesses strong Content Validity, as the items directly operationalize widely accepted behavioral indicators of bullying and victimization relevant to youth populations. Furthermore, the inherent design, which necessitates the separation of self-reported behavior from perceived peer views, provides immediate support for Discriminant Validity, demonstrating that the scale measures two related yet conceptually distinct psychological constructs.

Establishing Construct Validity involves correlating the scale’s subcomponents with other established measures. For instance, high scores on the Self-report Bully subscale are expected to correlate positively with external measures of aggressive behavior (such as teacher reports or observational data), while victimization scores should correlate with measures of internalizing problems or social isolation.

Reliability

Reliability analyses for the Setting the Record Straight scale typically indicate acceptable to strong internal consistency across the four primary subscales. Researchers most commonly utilize Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients to confirm the reliability of the aggregated scores for both the Self-report and Perceived Peer Perception dimensions of Victimization and Bullying.

Given the scale’s application in assessing complex and sensitive social dynamics, ensuring adequate internal consistency is paramount. Reliable scores guarantee that the items within each factor are consistently measuring the intended behavioral index, providing dependable data for clinical assessment and research conclusions.

Factor Analysis

The development of the Setting the Record Straight scale relied heavily on Factor Analysis—likely utilizing techniques such as Principal Component Analysis or Confirmatory Factor Analysis—to empirically confirm the hypothesized four-factor structure. This conceptual framework dictates that the 30 items should load cleanly onto dimensions defined by two orthogonal axes: the behavioral role (Bully vs. Victim) and the perspective (Self-report vs. Perceived Peer Perception).

Confirmation through factor analytic studies provides essential psychometric evidence for the instrument’s conceptual model and validates the scoring methodology proposed by Gottheil and Dubow (2001), ensuring that each subscale is interpreted as intended.

Instrument

Test Type: Behavioral Self-report and Perception Inventory.

Format: 30 items utilizing a dichotomous (True/False) response format. Scoring is assigned as True = 1 and False = 0.

Language Available: English (Original development).

Population Group: School-aged children and adolescents.

Age Group: Typically utilized with elementary and middle school students (Ages 8-14).

Population Details: The scale is used in both educational and clinical contexts to evaluate involvement in peer aggression and social reputation, specifically highlighting the potential discrepancy between a student’s self-perception and their perceived social standing.

Test Methodology: Administration can be conducted using traditional pencil-and-paper methods or digital platforms. Scoring results in four distinct subscale scores:

• Self-report Victimization (Items 2, 4, 6, 10, 14, 16, 18, 22, 24, and 30)
• Self-report Bully (Items 8, 12, 20, 26, and 28)
• Perceived Peer Perception Victimization (Items 1, 3, 5, 9, 13, 15, 17, 21, 23, and 29)
• Perceived Peer Perception Bully (Items 7, 11, 19, 25, and 27)

Keywords

Peer Relations, Aggression, Social Status, Tripartite Beliefs Model, School Climate, Children’s Mental Health, Discriminant Validity, Internal Consistency.

[quads id=5]

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected] (Neil Gottheil)

Correspondence Address: Neil Gottheil, PhD, School of Psychology, Psychology Services, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 8L1. Tel: 613-737-7600, ext. 3264.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was originally published in 2001. Reproduction and usage are restricted and require specific permission from the original publisher, The Haworth Press Inc., which is now part of the Taylor & Francis Group. Users must strictly adhere to copyright regulations, noting the original statement: Copyright © 2001, The Haworth Press Inc. Further reproduction is strictly prohibited without the express permission of the publisher.

The instrument is documented in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publication, Measuring Bullying Victimization, Perpetration, and Bystander Experiences: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. The original PDF for this compendium can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullycompendiumbk-a.pdf

Reference’s

Gottheil, N. F., & Dubow, E. F. (2001a). The interrelationships of behavioral indices of bully and victim behavior. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 2, 75–93.

Gottheil, N. F., & Dubow, E. F. (2001b). Tripartite beliefs model of bully and victim behavior. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 2, 25–47.

[quads id=5]

Items of the Setting the Record Straight

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

1. My classmates probably think that kids make fun of me.
2. Kids make fun of me.
3. My classmates probably think that I get beat up.
4. I get beat up.
5. My classmates probably think that I get called names by other kids.
6. I get called names by other kids.
7. My classmates probably think that I make fun of people.
8. I make fun of people.
9. My classmates probably think that kids do mean things to me.
10. Kids do mean things to me.
11. My classmates probably think that I hit and push others around.
12. I hit and push others around.
13. My classmates probably think that I get picked on by other kids.
14. I get picked on by other kids.
15. My classmates probably think that I get hit and pushed by other kids.
16. I get hit and pushed by other kids.
17. My classmates probably think that kids try to hurt my feelings.
18. Kids try to hurt my feelings.
19. My classmates probably think that if someone gets in my way I will shove them out of the way.
20. If someone gets in my way I will shove them out of the way.
21. My classmates probably think that when I get picked on I don’t like to fight back.
22. When I get picked on I don’t like to fight back.
23. My classmates probably think that I get teased a lot.
24. I get teased a lot.
25. My classmates probably think that there are certain kids I like to bother.
26. There are certain kids I like to bother.
27. My classmates probably think that I can beat everyone up.
28. I can beat everyone up.
29. My classmates probably think that I don’t defend myself.
30. I don’t defend myself.