Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; Department of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; Department of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2021 Jun;217:103313. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103313. Epub 2021 Apr 27.
Emotional perceptions of math-related information can have profound effects on attitudes about math, which, in turn, may lead to decreased math achievements. A large body of research has documented that females have less positive attitudes and more negative affectivity to math than males. This study examined emotional valence ratings of math-related verbal stimuli among adults and performed a pioneering investigation of gender differences in emotional perceptions. A random sample of 290 adults completed a battery of online affect questionnaires designated to measure the relations of various math-related words to the field of mathematics (i.e., math loading) and compared the emotional valence of these words to words known to have negative and neutral valence. Results revealed that: (1) math-related words were rated as less threatening than words with negative valence, but more threatening than neutral words; (2) math loading ratings were the strongest and most significant predictor of the emotional valence ratings of math-related words; and (3) females rated math-related words and words with negative, but not neutral, valence as more threatening than males. The study concludes that negative affective valence is linked with math-related information, especially among females, and this finding has implications for researchers, parents, and educators.
对与数学相关信息的情绪感知会对数学态度产生深远影响，而这种态度又可能导致数学成绩下降。大量研究表明，女性对数学的态度比男性更为消极，情感反应更为负面。本研究考察了成年人对与数学相关的言语刺激的情绪效价评价，并对情绪感知方面的性别差异进行了开创性的研究。一个由 290 名成年人组成的随机样本完成了一系列在线情感问卷，旨在测量与数学领域相关的各种词汇（即数学负荷）与数学之间的关系，并将这些词汇的情绪效价与已知具有负性和中性效价的词汇进行比较。结果表明：（1）与具有负性效价的词汇相比，与数学相关的词汇被评定为威胁性较小，但比中性词汇更具威胁性；（2）数学负荷评价是预测与数学相关的词汇的情绪效价的最强和最显著的指标；（3）女性对与数学相关的词汇和具有负性但非中性效价的词汇的评定比男性更为威胁。该研究得出的结论是，负性情感效价与与数学相关的信息有关，尤其是在女性中，这一发现对研究人员、家长和教育工作者都具有重要意义。
