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Cool to be Smart or Smart to be Cool? Understanding Peer Pressure in Education

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  • Leonardo Bursztyn
  • Georgy Egorov
  • Robert Jensen

Abstract

We model and test two school-based peer cultures: one that stigmatizes effort and one that rewards ability. The model shows that either may reduce participation in educational activities when peers can observe participation and performance. We design a field experiment that allows us to test for, and differentiate between, these two concerns. We find that peer pressure reduces takeup of an SAT prep package virtually identically across two very different high school settings. However, the effects arise from very distinct mechanisms: a desire to hide effort in one setting and a desire to hide low ability in the other.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonardo Bursztyn & Georgy Egorov & Robert Jensen, 2019. "Cool to be Smart or Smart to be Cool? Understanding Peer Pressure in Education," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(4), pages 1487-1526.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:restud:v:86:y:2019:i:4:p:1487-1526.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/restud/rdy026
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Peer pressure; Education; Field experiment; Signalling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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