The Consequence of Consequence: Motivation, Anxiety, and Test Performance

Wolf, Lisa F.; Smith, Jeffrey K.

doi:10.1207/s15324818ame0803_3

Cited by 172 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…A high level of motivation is generally seen as important for an optimal performance, which is why this may seem as an unexpected result. On the other hand, as motivation increases, test anxiety also tends to increase (see Wolf and Smith 1995;Smith and Smith 2002), and as anxiety and motivation have opposite effects on performance, it could be assumed that a "high-enough" level of motivation coupled with a "low-enough" level of anxiety would be the best combination in practice. Also, this cluster indeed scored lower on the motivation scale than the other two clusters, but in absolute terms, they still reported a fair level of motivation for doing their best on the test.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Low levels of motivation when undertaking a test might also affect test performance (van Barneveld 2007;Wise and DeMars 2005). Motivation and anxiety are thus assumed and have empirically been shown, to have opposite effects on performance, and Wolf and Smith (1995) showed that a high level of motivation coupled with a low level of test anxiety is a desirable combination when it comes to performance. However, as motivation increases, test anxiety also tends to increase, possibly canceling the positive effect of high motivation out (Wolf and Smith 1995;Smith and Smith 2002).…”

Section: Test Motivation and Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Motivation and anxiety are thus assumed and have empirically been shown, to have opposite effects on performance, and Wolf and Smith (1995) showed that a high level of motivation coupled with a low level of test anxiety is a desirable combination when it comes to performance. However, as motivation increases, test anxiety also tends to increase, possibly canceling the positive effect of high motivation out (Wolf and Smith 1995;Smith and Smith 2002). The main assumption in high-stakes test contexts is that the level of motivation among test takers is generally high due to the possible positive consequences of a good performance.…”

Section: Test Motivation and Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The successful test taker: exploring test-taking behavior profiles through cluster analysis

2017

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To be successful in a high-stakes testing situation is desirable for any test taker. It has been found that, beside content knowledge, test-taking behavior, such as risktaking strategies, motivation, and test anxiety, is important for test performance. The purposes of the present study were to identify and group test takers with similar patterns of test-taking behavior and to explore how these groups differ in terms of background characteristics and test performance in a high-stakes achievement test context. A sample of the Swedish Scholastic Assessment Test test takers (N = 1891) completed a questionnaire measuring their motivation, test anxiety, and risk-taking behavior during the test, as well as background characteristics. A two-step cluster analysis revealed three clusters of test takers with significantly different test-taking behavior profiles: a moderate (n = 741), a calm risk taker (n = 637), and a test anxious risk averse (n = 513) profile. Group difference analyses showed that the calm risk taker profile (i.e., a high degree of risktaking together with relatively low levels of test anxiety and motivation during the test) was the most successful profile from a test performance perspective, while the test anxious risk averse profile (i.e., a low degree of risk-taking together with high levels of test anxiety and motivation) was the least successful. Informing prospective test takers about these insights can potentially lead to more valid interpretations and inferences based on the test scores. Eur J Psychol Educ (2018) shown that for a test taker to be successful when taking a test, it is important to be able to reduce anxiety and sustain motivation (Dodeen et al. 2014;Naylor 1997;Sternberg 1998), as well as using effective test-taking strategies, such as willingness to take risks (Bicak 2013;Bond and Harman 1994;Dodeen 2008). Studies in this area often compare groups of test takers and have for example found that high achievers tend to report using more effective testtaking strategies when compared to low achievers (Stenlund et al. 2017;Ellis and Ryan 2003;Hong et al. 2006;Kim and Goetz 1993), that males are more prone to taking risks when answering test items (see, e.g., Baldiga 2014), and that females and low achievers seem to experience higher levels of test anxiety than males and high achievers (Stenlund et al. 2017;Cassady and Johnson 2002;Naylor 1997). Findings like these can help understand and to some extent possibly explain performance differences that are often observed between manifest groups in achievement tests. Still, considering the consequences of successful test-taking behavior in high-stakes test situations, and assuming that test takers adopt different test-taking behavior, exploring differences across groups, in terms of profiles, and identifying patterns that seem associated with sucessful and less successful test-taking, respectively, might add important knowledge to this area. With this study, we therefore aim at identifying subgroups of test takers with similar patter...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Test Motivation and Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Test Motivation and Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The successful test taker: exploring test-taking behavior profiles through cluster analysis

2017

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“…Findings are consistent that after controlling for student general ability (e.g., SAT scores), motivation filtering helps improve student performance and improve the validity of the test results (Wise & DeMars, 2005Wise, Wise, & Bhola, 2006;Wolf & Smith, 1995).…”

Section: Current Challenges In Outcomes Assessment In Higher Educationmentioning

confidence: 60%

Examining American Post‐secondary Education

Liu

2011

ETS Research Report Series

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The purpose of this report is to identify the most prominent issues in U.S. higher education and to develop strategic research plans to address the issues that are most relevant to ETS's capabilities in measurement and assessment through the ETS's higher education research initiative. In the United States, issues related to higher education such as improved performance and effective accountability have received unprecedented attention from stakeholders at many levels. At the national level, President Obama has set forth an ambitious agenda for American postsecondary education such that by 2020, the United States should once again have the largest concentration of citizens with a postsecondary degree. At the corporate level, ETS, as the world's largest educational research and testing organization, is ready to move beyond testing program‐based research in higher education and has the capability to deal with some of the most thorny issues in higher education. By strategically expanding post‐secondary research, ETS will establish itself as a pioneer and thought leader in the field of higher education. The first part of the research report identifies four key issues existing in American higher education: enrollment and performance, retention and degree attainment, student learning and experience, and learning outcomes and accountability. The second part of the research report develops an ETS research agenda with short‐term and long‐term plans to address these issues. The agenda specifies short‐term and long‐term research goals that are specific, attainable, and measurable. Research findings from the studies proposed in this agenda have a potential for advancing understanding of the current situation and future needs of American higher education and also contributing to enhanced student learning at postsecondary institutions. Reaffirming and strengthening American higher education is critical to this country's success in the 21st century.

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“…Even though positive emotions are described about as often as negative emotions among students, anxiety is the most commonly reported emotion related to exam-taking (Pekrun, Goetz, Titz & Perry, 2002). Performance in achievement situations is known to be increased by positive motivation (Rand, Lens & Decock, 1991), but for example Wolf and Smith (1995) found that high motivation in combination with high anxiety produced almost the same levels of performance as low motivation in combination with low anxiety. They concluded that while high motivation is clearly advantageous in optimizing test performance, the anxiety that often accompanies increased levels of motivation could have an unfavourable effect.…”

Section: The Trends In International Mathematics and Science Study -Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing National Tests in Swedish Primary Education: Implications for Test Anxiety

Nyroos

Wiklund-Hörnqvist²

2017

EJREP

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The Consequence of Consequence: Motivation, Anxiety, and Test Performance

Cited by 172 publications

References 23 publications

The successful test taker: exploring test-taking behavior profiles through cluster analysis

The successful test taker: exploring test-taking behavior profiles through cluster analysis

Examining American Post‐secondary Education

Introducing National Tests in Swedish Primary Education: Implications for Test Anxiety

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