Bullying, identity and school performance: Evidence from Chile

Abstract

This article examines the relationship among bullying, individual's identity, and school performance in Chile. The results indicate that being a bully or a bully-victim increases the probability of being a low performing student. For the case of victims, our results suggest a heterogeneity according students’ ability, decreasing academic achievement for students with below average ability, but increasing it for very high achieving students. We also found that students claiming to belong to a subculture characterized by a defiant attitude towards authority have lower academic achievement. Our results support anti-bullying policies and those attempting to promote student's identities associated with higher academic achievement.