On the relationship between test anxiety and academic performance

Psychology has documented great numbers of data related to anxiety since the investigators put their effort into acknowledging it and its effects. Anxiety is considered as a psychological construct indirectly associated with an object (Hilgard, Atkinson, & Atkinson, 1971). Earlier research focused its attention on describing the different types of anxiety and what causes it. As a result of these previous investigations anxiety became one of the most studied issues in a wide range of scientific branches. However, most of the studies related to anxiety related to students and academic life are still vague. In this paper, I would thus like to test the questionnaire described by Irwin G. Sarason (1952) and how test anxiety can have a deleterious effect on the outcome of student's grades. The overall aim of this paper is to have a clear explanation of which are the most anxiety triggering factors and, furthermore, to be able to help the educational community when facing these types of situations with their students or fellow teachers. Data were obtained by a group of forty senior high school students. This relationship was measured using the Test Anxiety Questionnaire, which was created by Irwin G. Sarason in 1952. After the students responded the battery of the questions the results showed how the levels of test anxiety increased mainly because of the pressure received from their surroundings and from themselves; being the focal point of this stress to excel university entrance exams. Students who did not desire to enter university or did not know what they wanted to major on were left outside the study. The results are discussed in terms of the definition of this exact type of anxiety and how it associates with a specific moment during education.

Test anxiety seems like a benign problem to some people, but it can be potentially serious when it leads to high levels of distress and academic failure. The aim of this study is to define the correlation among high school senior students' test anxiety, academic performance (GPA) and points of university entrance exam (UEE). The study group of the research was composed of 194 high school senior students in Turkey. To specify students' test anxiety, " Test Anxiety Inventory " developed by Spielberge et al. and adopted into Turkish by Oner was used. The data on students' UEE points and GPA were obtained from school administration. In the result of pearson correlation analysis, it was found significant reverse correlation between students' test anxiety and points of UEE. It was also seen significant positive correlation between students' GPA and scores of UEE. Besides, in the analysis done according to gender, the result showed that although there was a significant reverse correlation between female students' test anxiety and points of UEE, it was seen a significant positive correlation between their points of UEE and their GPA. According to data analysis done for male students, significant positive correlation between male students' GPA and points of UEE occured. Following t-test results, it was found significant difference in test anxiety and GPA in favor of female students and in points of UEE in favor of male students. These findings extend the previous studies carried out on test anxiety and its reflections and encourage further studies.

Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2024

Background: Test anxiety is a particular type of anxiety that is marked by physical, cognitive, and behavioural symptoms when taking and performing tests. It is defined as "severe stress" before, during, and after exams and other assessments. Test anxiety could cause poor academic performance and increase dropout rates. This study aimed to determine the levels of test anxiety and its determinants among health sciences students at Mattu University. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 421 selected students from June 1 to June 30, 2021. The study utilized the Westside Test Anxiety, the Oslo Social Support Scale, the Rosenberg Selfesteem Scale, and the Kessler Scale to assess test anxiety, social support, self-esteem, and psychological distress, respectively. The collected data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and then exported to STATA version 14.0 for analysis. A linear regression model was used to determine factors associated with test anxiety. The multiple regression assumptions were checked for each variable. Statistically significant effects were assumed for a p-value of less than 0.05 at a 95% confidence interval in the multiple linear regression analysis. Results: A total of 416 (99%) participants were completed out of the 420 questionnaires administered. The mean score of test anxiety among participants was 25.

Educational Research and Reviews, 2013

Test anxiety seems like a benign problem to some people, but it can be potentially serious when it leads to high levels of distress and academic failure. The aim of this study is to define the correlation among high school senior students' test anxiety, academic performance (GPA) and points of university entrance exam (UEE). The study group of the research was composed of 194 high school senior students in Turkey. To specify students' test anxiety, "Test Anxiety Inventory" developed by Spielberge et al. and adopted into Turkish by Oner was used. The data on students' UEE points and GPA were obtained from school administration. In the result of pearson correlation analysis, it was found significant reverse correlation between students' test anxiety and points of UEE. It was also seen significant positive correlation between students' GPA and scores of UEE. Besides, in the analysis done according to gender, the result showed that although there was a significant reverse correlation between female students' test anxiety and points of UEE, it was seen a significant positive correlation between their points of UEE and their GPA. According to data analysis done for male students, significant positive correlation between male students' GPA and points of UEE occured. Following ttest results, it was found significant difference in test anxiety and GPA in favor of female students and in points of UEE in favor of male students. These findings extend the previous studies carried out on test anxiety and its reflections and encourage further studies.

Social Science Research Network, 2010

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between test-anxiety and academic achievement among adolescents in Sanandaj, Iran. The respondents comprised of 400 students (200 boys and 200 girls) in the age range of 15-19 years old that were randomly selected from nine high schools in Sanandaj, Iran. A self administered questionnaire was used for data collection which includes a Test-Anxiety Inventory (TAI) (Abbolghasemi, 1988), Grade Point Average (GPA) score and personal information. Result shows that there is a significant correlation (r=-0.23, p=.000) between test anxiety and academic achievement among adolescents. In addition, there is a significant difference (t= 5.47, p=.000) of academic achievement between male and female adolescents whereby female score higher in their academic achievement. It is recommended that academic achievement and mental health be improved in school settings with support strategies such as educational guidance, counseling and psychotherapy or other psycho-educational program such as teaching life skill.

Health, 2014

Background and Aim: Given the dramatic decline in the ability of test due to test anxiety, the goal of this study was to evaluate the relationship between test anxiety and academic performances in students. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 216 Iranian nursing and midwifery students in 2011-2012, utilizing Sarason Anxiety Inventory, demographic checklist and the average mark of students in the period of midterm and final exam. Multinomial logistic regression analyses by reporting odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were performed by SPSS17 software to assess the relationship between test anxiety and academic performances. Results: Mild, moderate and sever test anxiety was observed in 30.6, 43.1 and 26.4 percent of students respectively. Test anxiety was significantly related to academic performance (average), major and city. Also, there was 52.9% decrease for odds of having sever anxiety (compared to mild anxiety) with 1 point increase in average (OR = 0.471, 95% CI = (0.298-0.745) and p = 0.001). Conclusions: Due to inverse relationship between test anxiety and academic performance, performing preventive programs such as in time treatment of anxiety, empowering the students to deal with anxiety and conducting consulting services for how to studying are very important. Consequently it would be a big step in decreasing the test anxiety and therefore in improving the academic performance.

Annals of Human and Social Sciences, 2023

2020

Background: University life is a chapter of all the enrolled students' life where they face stressful events that could potentially lead to different levels of anxiety. Anxiety is a common phenomenon that causes poor academic achievements for most college students in the world. Higher state of anxiety, feeling low self-esteem, taking longer time to accomplish tasks, and spending more time for studying, are faced by college students who also worry about tests resulting or low grades. Aim: This study aimed to determine the anxiety level among university students during final exams, and to determine the relationship between students' characteristics and the level of test anxiety among King Faisal University Students in Al Hasa, Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia. Method: A cross-sectional study research design was utilized to conduct the current study on a sample of (N = 362 students) randomly chosen from King Faisal University students from different colleges. Informed consent was taken stating that the participants have the right to leave the study at any time. Students were asked to complete a questionnaire developed by Nist and Diehl (1990) in assessing Test Anxiety. Test anxiety score was measured among students between the age range 18 to 26 years. There was high level of test anxiety among level 3 students (25.3%) with (Mean ± SD=31.1±6.8) and among level 4 students (21.2%) with (Mean ± SD 30.5±6.5). The frequency of students with high anxiety was significantly increased in health college (28%). This means that there was a significant increase in the anxiety score in health colleges compared with non-health colleges. The prevalence of high level of test anxiety among university students was (19.1%).High level of test anxiety is noticed in our university students. Also, the result confirmed that there is a relationship between test anxiety and students' characteristics. Conclusion: Anxiety is a natural response categorized by feelings of stress, anxious thoughts and bodily alterations like raised blood pressure. Moderate levels of anxiety are motivating and can improve students' test performances. However, high level of anxiety could hinder and interfere with their academic performance. The current study focuses on the test anxiety level among undergraduate King Faisal University students. In this study, high level of test anxiety is noticed in the students. Also, the result confirmed that there is a relationship between test anxiety and students' characteristics.

International Journal of Psychological Studies, 2014

Pathological anxiety towards an exam intensifies psychological distress and reduces academic motivation. The present study aimed to identify the prevalence of test anxiety and psychological distress. Additionally, the present study examined the extent to which test anxiety predicts psychological distress and academic motivation. Westside Text Anxiety Scale (WTAS), Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10) and Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) were administered among 154 first year undergraduate medical students attending a private university in Malaysia. The results showed that 18.2 (n = 28) percent of medical students experienced test anxiety and 53.9 (n = 83) percent of them were psychological distressed. Further, results showed that test anxiety positively correlated with psychological distress and amotivation. Test anxiety is a significant predictor of psychological distress and amotivation. Over all, medical students who experience test anxiety tend to experience high psychological distress and amotivation in their studies.

International Journal of Scientific Research, 2012

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of test anxiety on academic achievement of school students. The respondents comprised of 100 school students (50 boys and 50 girls) studying in class XI, selected by random basis from different high schools of Ranchi town. Sarason's Test Anxiety Scale for Children (TASC) was used to assess test anxiety and percentage of total marks obtain by the students in their Board exam was considered as the academic achievement score. They were classified into there groups, high moderate and low anxiety group on the basis of there score obtained in the test anxiety scale. The results revealed that there was a significant difference in academic achievement of high, middle and low test anxiety group. Male students showed a higher percentage in moderate level of test anxiety whereas female students had higher level of test anxiety than males.