The Relation Between Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematics Performance Among School-Aged Students: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine the relation between mathematics anxiety (MA) and mathematics performance among school-aged students, and to identify potential moderators and underlying mechanisms of such relation, including grade level, temporal relations, difficulty of mathematical tasks, dimensions of MA measures, effects on student grades, and working memory. A meta-analysis of 131 studies with 478 effect sizes was conducted. The results indicated that a significant negative correlation exist between MA and mathematics performance, r = −.34. Moderation analyses indicated that dimensions of MA, difficulty of mathematical tasks, and effects on student grades differentially affected the relation between MA and mathematics performance. MA assessed with both cognitive and affective dimensions showed a stronger negative correlation with mathematics performance compared to MA assessed with either an affective dimension only or mixed/unspecified dimensions. Advanced mathematical tasks that require multistep processes showed a stronger negative correlation to MA compared to foundational mathematical tasks. Mathematics measures that affected/reflected student grades (e.g., final exam, students’ course grade, GPA) had a stronger negative correlation to MA than did other measures of mathematics performance that did not affect student grades (e.g., mathematics measures administered as part of research). Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Math Anxiety and Working Memory Updating: Difficulties in Retrieving Numerical Information From Working Memory

“…Some studies have shown that math anxiety difficulties are specifically related to tasks with numerical information (Ashcraft and Kirk, 2001) or to dysfunctional math-related contexts (Shi and Liu, 2016). In fact, Namkung et al (2019) in a recent metaanalysis pointed out that only those WM tasks that involve numerical information may prompt math anxiety. As such, the results in the present study may not be generalised to other types of information.…”

“…A highly convenient feature of this task for the present study is that it employs numerical information and operations with which math-anxious individuals encounter difficulties (Suárez-Pellicioni et al, 2016). Indeed, Namkung et al (2019) have suggested that the relationship between math anxiety and WM is domain-specific: only the tasks that involve numbers would induce math anxiety that in turn disrupts the functioning of WM.…”

A comparison of self-reports and electrodermal activity as indicators of mathematics state anxiety.

“…Mathematics Anxiety (MA) has a substantial impact on many students' academic and personal lives. It influences achievement in mathematics tests and classes (Hembree, 1990;Ma, 1999;Namkung, Peng, & Lin, 2019). Moreover, students with high MA avoid mathematics in everyday life as well as in career and academic choices (Dowker, Sarkar, & Looi, 2016;Ma, 1999).…”

Cognitive Research and Mathematics Education—How Can Basic Research Reach the Classroom?

“…Examples of more applied research on numerical cognition include evaluations of effectiveness of interventions in early childhood (Mononen et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2016;Christodoulou et al, 2017;Nelson and McMaster, 2019); for older students (Jitendra et al, 2018;Stevens et al, 2018); across age groups (Dennis et al, 2016); and across different regions of the world (Conn, 2017). Other examples include interventions for students with emotional difficulties (Losinski et al, 2019); math anxiety (Namkung et al, 2019); or on attitudes toward achievement (Savelsbergh et al, 2016); the impact of homework (Fan et al, 2017); and specific teaching strategies (Capar and Tarim, 2015;Rittle-Johnson et al, 2017;Guillaume and Van Rinsveld, 2018).…”