A new GLO Discussion Paper finds for China that having disadvantaged peers significantly lowers conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, and social skills.
GLO Discussion Paper No. 1004, 2021
Effects of Childhood Peers on Personality Skills – Download PDF
by Feng, Shuaizhang & Kim, Jun Hyung & Yang, Zhe
GLO Fellows Shuaizhang Feng, Jun Hyung Kim & & Zhe Yang
Feng 
Kim 
Yang
Author Abstract: Despite extensive literature on peer effects, the role of peers on personality skill development remains poorly understood. We fill this gap by investigating the effects of having disadvantaged primary school peers, generated by random classroom assignment and parental migration for employment. We find that having disadvantaged peers significantly lowers conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, and social skill. The implied effects of a 10-15 percentage point change in the classroom proportion of disadvantaged peers are comparable to the effects of popular early childhood interventions. Furthermore, we find suggestive evidence that these effects are driven by the peers’ personality skills.
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Further on peer effects for children:
Chakraborty, Tanika & Schüller, Simone & Zimmermann, Klaus F. (2019), Beyond the Average: Ethnic Capital Heterogeneity and Intergenerational Transmission of Education, GLO Discussion Paper No. 322. Published in: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (JEBO), Vol. 163 (2019), pp. 551-569. Published PDF.
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