Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK.
Behav Brain Funct. 2012 Jul 9;8:33. doi: 10.1186/1744-9081-8-33.
Mathematics anxiety (MA), a state of discomfort associated with performing mathematical tasks, is thought to affect a notable proportion of the school age population. Some research has indicated that MA negatively affects mathematics performance and that girls may report higher levels of MA than boys. On the other hand some research has indicated that boys' mathematics performance is more negatively affected by MA than girls' performance is. The aim of the current study was to measure girls' and boys' mathematics performance as well as their levels of MA while controlling for test anxiety (TA) a construct related to MA but which is typically not controlled for in MA studies.
Four-hundred and thirty three British secondary school children in school years 7, 8 and 10 completed customised mental mathematics tests and MA and TA questionnaires.
No gender differences emerged for mathematics performance but levels of MA and TA were higher for girls than for boys. Girls and boys showed a positive correlation between MA and TA and a negative correlation between MA and mathematics performance. TA was also negatively correlated with mathematics performance, but this relationship was stronger for girls than for boys. When controlling for TA, the negative correlation between MA and performance remained for girls only. Regression analyses revealed that MA was a significant predictor of performance for girls but not for boys.
Our study has revealed that secondary school children experience MA. Importantly, we controlled for TA which is typically not controlled for in MA studies. Girls showed higher levels of MA than boys and high levels of MA were related to poorer levels of mathematics performance. As well as potentially having a detrimental effect on 'online' mathematics performance, past research has shown that high levels of MA can have negative consequences for later mathematics education. Therefore MA warrants attention in the mathematics classroom, particularly because there is evidence that MA develops during the primary school years. Furthermore, our study showed no gender difference in mathematics performance, despite girls reporting higher levels of MA. These results might suggest that girls may have had the potential to perform better than boys in mathematics however their performance may have been attenuated by their higher levels of MA. Longitudinal research is needed to investigate the development of MA and its effect on mathematics performance.
数学焦虑（MA）是一种与执行数学任务相关的不适状态，据认为它会影响相当一部分学龄人群。一些研究表明，MA 会对数学表现产生负面影响，而且女孩可能比男孩报告更高水平的 MA。另一方面，一些研究表明，男孩的数学表现受 MA 的负面影响比女孩的表现更大。本研究的目的是在控制考试焦虑（TA）的情况下测量女孩和男孩的数学表现以及他们的 MA 水平，TA 是与 MA 相关的一个结构，但在 MA 研究中通常不加以控制。
433 名英国中学 7、8 和 10 年级的学生完成了定制的心理数学测试以及 MA 和 TA 问卷。
数学表现没有性别差异，但 MA 和 TA 的水平女孩高于男孩。女孩和男孩的 MA 和 TA 呈正相关，MA 和数学表现呈负相关。TA 也与数学表现呈负相关，但女孩的相关性强于男孩。当控制 TA 时，MA 与表现的负相关仅对女孩存在。回归分析表明，MA 是女孩表现的一个显著预测因素，但不是男孩。
我们的研究表明，中学生经历 MA。重要的是，我们控制了通常在 MA 研究中未加以控制的 TA。女孩的 MA 水平高于男孩，高水平的 MA 与数学表现较差有关。除了对“在线”数学表现产生潜在的不利影响外，过去的研究还表明，高水平的 MA 对以后的数学教育会产生负面影响。因此，MA 在数学课堂上值得关注，特别是因为有证据表明 MA 在小学阶段发展。此外，我们的研究表明，尽管女孩报告的 MA 水平较高，但数学表现没有性别差异。这些结果可能表明，女孩在数学方面可能有比男孩更好的表现潜力，然而，她们的表现可能因 MA 水平较高而受到抑制。需要进行纵向研究来调查 MA 的发展及其对数学表现的影响。
