Cross-Cultural Control-Value Mechanisms on the Detrimental Effect of Bullying on Mathematics Anxiety

Although bullying behavior is widespread and has long-lasting adverse effects, the existing literature lacks strong evidence regarding the influence of bullying on students' mathematics anxiety, as well as on their domain-specific cognitive appraisals. The purpose of this study is to estimate causal estimates of bullying/cyberbullying on mathematics anxiety, perceived control, and perceived value. Data of the eighth-grade cohort of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 datasets (N = 46,256; 49.86% female; M(age) = 14.37) from Chile, Singapore, Sweden, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States were analyzed using the propensity score matching method, which yields causal inference estimates conditional on balanced covariates. The results showed that bullying victimization uniformly increased students' mathematics anxiety across the countries. The effect of bullying victimization on students' mathematics-related control appraisal was significant for the countries, except for Chile. This effect was more divergent on value appraisals towards mathematics. Sensitivity analyses corroborated the results. The findings suggest that cognitive appraisals may not fully capture the emotional consequences of bullying, contrary to cognitive appraisal-mediated pathways of control-value theory. Multi-country findings position bullying as an antecedent of mathematics anxiety, highlighting the need for interventions grounded in psychological, sociocultural, and educational policy factors to protect victims from its harmful effects.