TEXT ANXIETY, PERCEIVED COMPETENCE, AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

This investigation was intended to examine the relationship among perceived competence, anxiety, and mathematical and verbal achievement in a population of male and female Italian middle school students. One hundred and eighty students were administered measures of trait anxiety, and measures of state anxiety were administered immediately prior to administering achievement tests in math and literature. In addition, students were administered six subscales of a perceived competence scale. Analyses of these data yielded a moderate negative correlation between mathematics achievement and state anxiety for the math test, and a descriptively smaller negative correlation between the literature scores and state anxiety for the literature test. Significant correlations were also observed between achievement and perceived competence for academic ability. The two state anxiety measures were found to be highly correlated; however, trait anxiety was not statistically related to academic achievement in either math or literature. A moderate negative correlation was observed between perceived competence for academic ability and state anxiety for math and a somewhat lower correlation between perceived competence for academic ability and literature achievement. Males scored higher than females on the test of trait anxiety; however, females and males did not differ on any other anxiety or academic measures, including perceived competence for academic ability, math achievement, or literature achievement. Implications for future research are discussed.

Citation

Lucangeli, D. and Scruggs, T.E. (2003), "TEXT ANXIETY, PERCEIVED COMPETENCE, AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS", Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities (Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities, Vol. 16), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 223-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0735-004X(03)16008-9