Bullying and its effect on victims' academic achievement: a comparative study of direct and relational bullying in countries with varying levels of prevalence

• Main Authors: Kong, Tammy Shao Ci, Tan, Xiang Xian, Zhang, Chu Yi
• Other Authors: Sng Hui Ying
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Social sciences::Economic theory
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166364
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This comparative study investigates the determinants of bullying and the effect of bullying victimisation on academic performance in both high and low bullying rate countries. By utilising data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018, a sample of 43,591 students from eight countries were assessed based on their experiences of bullying and academic achievement. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression was used to identify the predictors of bullying, and both parametric (OLS regression) and non-parametric (propensity score matching) techniques were employed to analyse the effects of bullying victimisation on students’ academic performance. The results show that students without parents' support in their academic endeavours and who do not value teamwork in the school setting have a stronger likelihood of being both direct and relationally bullied. Furthermore, the cross-country analysis revealed that in countries with high incidences of bullying, the negative effects on academic performance were more pronounced, with relational bullying having a more detrimental effect than direct bullying. The findings shed light on the importance of establishing a multiple-tiered coordination system to implement effective bullying prevention and control plans at the student, school and family levels.