Actual and recalled test anxiety and flexibility, rigidity, and self-control

Abstract

Recalled and actual test anxiety were compared, and the interrelationship of anxiety and certain personality variables was examined. Sex differences in the variables and in the correlations among variables were studied. The A‐State scale of the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered to a sample of college students (N = 71) under different conditions and instructions. Scales that measure trait anxiety, dependency, flexibility, and self‐control also were administered. Recalled test anxiety was significantly higher than actual TA. No significant sex differences were found in the means or correlations of the variables. A strong, positive relationship between A‐Trait and dependency was found.

Remembering past emotions: The role of current appraisals

“…A number of previous studies have shown that people tend to overestimate the intensity of past negative emotions (Breckler, 1994;Devito & Kubis, 1983;Keuler & Safer, 1998;Schrader et al, 1990;Zimmerman & Coryell, 1986). In the present study, no general tendency was found to either overestimate or underestimate past emotions.…”

“…Although several researchers have found that people tend to overestimate the intensity of past negative emotions (Breckler, 1994;Devito & Kubis, 1983;Keuler & Safer, 1998;Schrader et al, 1990;Zimmerman & Coryell, 1986; but see Levine, 1997;Levine & Bluck, 1997), we predicted that current appraisals would determine whether emotions were over-or underestimated relative to initial reports. To test this prediction, the complete regression models described above were used to estimate values for recalled emotional intensity at selected levels of the current appraisal variables.…”

“…Students recalling the intensity of their pre-exam anxiety (Devito & Kubis, 1983;Keuler & Safer, 1998), people recalling how anxious they felt just before donating blood (Breckler, 1994), and psychiatric patients recalling past symptoms of depression (Schrader, Davis, Stefanovic, & Christie, 1990;Zimmerman & Coryell, 1986) tended to overestimate the intensity of past negative emotions. Furthermore, people asked to estimate the average intensity of emotions previously recorded in diaries tended to exaggerate both positive and negative affect (Hedges, Jandorf, & Stone, 1985;Parkinson, Briner, Reynolds, & Totterdell, 1995;Thomas & Diener, 1990).…”

Memory bias in the recall of pre‐exam anxiety: the influence of self‐enhancement

“…For example, studies by Schrader et al (1990) and by Zimmerman and Coryell (1986) found that depressed patients significantly overestimated the intensity of previous episodes of depression. Overestimates of past states have also been observed in memory for pre-exam anxiety (Devito & Kubis, 1983;Keuler & Safer, 1998), blood donation anxiety (Breckler, 1994), and physiological states such as chronic pain (Bryant, 1993). Findings such as these have led some researchers to argue that emotions are not…”

“…Consistent with previous research (e.g. Devito & Kubis, 1983), participants recalled their pre-exam anxiety levels as being higher than they had indicated in their original ratings. The critical manipulation in this study was that half the participants had received their exam results (the informed group) and half had not (the uninformed group).…”