Peers with romantic relationship and student non-cognitive skills: evidence from Chinese middle schools

By using the quasi-experiment of random class assignment, this paper investigated the casual effect of the percentage of students in class who have experienced romantic relationship (PRR) on the regular students' non-cognitive skills (NCS) in Chinese middle schools. Results indicate that PRR had an adverse impact on student NCS, which can be explained by students' lower expectations for the future, unruly behaviour, teachers' lower enthusiasm and influences from friends. Moreover, this impact is more pronounced among girls, only children, those with low non-cognitive skills and those with strict parents.