title: Neighbourhood effects on educational attainment of adolescents, buffered by personality and educational commitment.
abstract: Research has repeatedly shown that neighbourhood disadvantage negatively influences individual educational outcomes. However, the great variation in outcomes indicates substantial unobserved heterogeneity. Looking at the rates of obtaining a basic educational qualification, the hypothesis is that individual traits of adolescents can buffer neighbourhood effects. First, adolescents with a more resilient personality may be better able to cope with neighbourhood adversity. And second, educational commitments might buffer adolescents from negative neighbourhood influences. These hypotheses are tested employing survival analysis, using six wave panel data, containing information on ten years of adolescents' lives. The results show that resilients experience no negative influence of neighbourhood disadvantage, while both undercontrollers and overcontrollers do. And, the stronger adolescents' educational commitments, the less they experience the negative effect of neighbourhood adversity. In sum, neighbourhood effects are found, but not for everybody.
authors.affiliation: Urban and Regional research centre Utrecht (URU), Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands; OTB - Research for the Built Environment, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5030, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.g.nieuwenhuis@tudelft.nl.
authors.forename: Jaap
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nieuwenhuis
authors.affiliation: Urban and Regional research centre Utrecht (URU), Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: p.hooimeijer@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hooimeijer
authors.affiliation: Research Centre on Adolescent Development, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Electronic address: w.meeus@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meeus
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010551:Personality; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Adolescents; Educational commitment; Longitudinal; Neighbourhood effects; Personality types