Test anxiety: gender differences in elementary school students

Aydin, U. (2019) Test anxiety: gender differences in elementary school students. European Journal of Educational Research, 8(1), pp. 21-30. (doi: 10.12973/eu-jer.8.1.21)

Abstract

Students’ test anxiety is known to have significant influences on essential academic outcomes, and given the increased testing of school-aged children gender differences also appear in dimensions of test anxiety: thoughts, off-task behaviors, and autonomic reactions. This study examined: (i) whether there is a pattern of correlations exist among three dimensions of test anxiety that are tapped by the Children’s Test Anxiety Scale (Wren & Benson, 2004) and (ii) whether gender differences exist in the strength of these test anxiety dimensions. Students (N= 414) from 3 public schools, attending to the fourth grade (205 Females; 209 Males) were asked to rate on the thoughts (cognitive), off-task behaviors (behavioral), autonomic reactions (physiological) dimensions. The results revealed a strong relationship between thoughts and autonomic reactions (r = .57). Applying a multivariate approach, gender differences were found to be significant in overall test anxiety favoring females. Results also revealed a small female advantage for thoughts and autonomic reactions, Ƞ2 = .012 and Ƞ2= .016; but quite a small male advantage for off-task behaviors Ƞ2=.009. Taken as a whole, we need to seriously consider the implications of these differences and pay attention particularly to females in elementary schools.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Aydin, Dr Utkun
• Authors: Aydin, U.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Journal Name: European Journal of Educational Research
• Publisher: Eurasian Society of Educational Research
• ISSN: 2165-8714
• ISSN (Online): 2165-8714
• Published Online: 15 January 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 The Author
• First Published: First published in European Journal of Educational Research 8(1): 21-30
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License