Math anxiety, math self-concept, and performance in math

Abstract

Study participants: 320 grade ten advanced students from two school boards in Northwestern Ontario. Math anxiety, math self-concept, math performances were studied. Gender differences were also explored.

This study analyzed the relationship among math anxiety, math self-concept and performance in math. The study examined descriptive, and correlational relationships among these variables, and explored gender differences in the relationship, math anxiety, and math self-concept. Three hundred and twenty grade 10 advanced students (174 female, 145 male) from two school boards in Northwestern Ontario served as subjects. Measures of correlation revealed that higher levels of math anxiety were accompanied by lower performance in math, and lower math self -concept. Higher math self-concept was linked to higher performance. These relationships held for males and females separately. Math self-concept was significantly more closely linked to performance than was math anxiety, and this was so for each gender separately. The correlations for math anxiety/performance, and for math self-concept /performance were similar in magnitude for both genders, indicating that math anxiety and math self-concept functioned similarly for both males and females with respect to performance. T-tests revealed that females had significantly higher math anxiety, and lower math self-concept than males.