Copyright Malvin Porter, Jr. 2010 - acumen - The University of ...

esponse to either being bullied or watching another child being bullied. Half of the Action
Choices on the list were Prosocial Action Choices (e.g., “I would tell the bullies to stop talking
about her,” “I would see if Charlie was okay and help him”). The other half of the Action
Choices on the list were Aggressive Action Choices (e.g., “I would threaten to beat up the mean
kids,” “I would tell the bullies that they are losers”).
The participant child is asked to rate each Action Choice for “how good” it is. Response
options range from 1 = very bad, 2 = kind of bad, 3 = kind of good, and 4 = very good. Next, the
participant child is asked to review all of the items that they just rated and select the item that
represents the very best thing for the main character to do. A score for “best” Prosocial Action
Choice is calculated by counting the number of prosocial responses listed as a Best Action
Choice for each scenario. Similarly, a score for Best Aggressive Action Choice is calculated by
counting the number the number of prosocial responses listed as a Worst Action Choice for each
scenario. A score for Worst Aggressive Action Choice is calculated by counting the number of
aggressive responses listed as a Worst Action Choice for each scenario. Best Prosocial Action
Choice scores are dependent upon Best Aggressive Action Choice scores; therefore, only Best
Prosocial Action Choice scores are used in the analyses. The present study was mainly
concerned with indentifying what children think is the Best action to take in response to
victimization; therefore, neither the Worst Prosocial Action Choices nor the Worst Aggressive
Action Choices were included in the analyzes.
Next, the child is asked to reflect again on his or her “Best” Action Choice and read a list
of six to nine possible reasons or explanations for why the main character would choose to
engage in the “best” Action Choice. These explanations are referred to as Justification Choices.
One third of the Justification Choices on the list reflect a rationale based on the principle of
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