Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Jodi Price

Committee Member

Aurora Torres

Committee Member

Jeffrey Neuschatz

Subject(s)

Math anxiety, Problem solving--Ability testing, Mathematics--Study and teaching--Psychological aspects

Abstract

Past research demonstrated that a variety of factors contribute to the severity of math anxiety and its detriments on math performance. The present study examined the influence of performance pressure, sex, second-hand success or failure of a male or female, and problem difficulty on math anxiety and performance. The design included a 2 (Participant sex: male, female) x 2 (Student actor sex: male, female) x 2 (Video outcome: success, failure) x 2 (Problem difficulty: easy, difficult) x 2 (Pressure: low, high) mixed design. Participants (UAH students, n = 232) were recruited from introductory psychology courses and completed the study via Qualtrics. The pressure manipulation was found to be ineffective. Participants’ math anxiety and performance were most influenced when watching a male fail at solving problems. These results could be used to mitigate the influence of stereotypes on math anxiety and performance in education.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.