Working Paper: NBER ID: w23020
Authors: Leonardo Bursztyn; Georgy Egorov; Robert Jensen
Abstract: Concerns about social image may negatively affect schooling behavior. We identify two potentially important peer cultures: one that stigmatizes effort (thus, where it is “smart to be cool”) and one that rewards ability (where it is “cool to be smart”). We build a model showing that either may lower the takeup of educational activities when takeup and performance are potentially observable to peers. We design a field experiment allowing us to test whether students are influenced by these concerns at all, and then which they are more influenced by. We examine high schools in two settings: a low-income, high minority share area and a higher-income, lower minority share area. In both settings, peer pressure reduces takeup of an SAT prep package. We show that this is consistent with a greater concern for hiding effort in the lower-income school, and a greater concern with hiding low ability in the higher-income schools.
Keywords: peer pressure; education; social image; ability; stigma
JEL Codes: C93; D83; I21; I24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| peer pressure effects (C92) | educational investment (I26) |
| lower-income schools (I24) | concern for hiding effort (D29) |
| higher-income schools (I24) | concern for hiding low ability (D83) |
| concern for hiding effort (D29) | lower sign-up rates for SAT prep package (M31) |
| concern for hiding low ability (D83) | decline in sign-up rates for SAT prep package (M31) |
| perceived revealing of diagnostic test scores (C52) | decrease in sign-up rates (J63) |
| peer perception (C92) | educational investment decisions (I26) |