ERIC Number: EJ1232791
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Nov
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0663
EISSN: N/A
Sex Differences in Mathematics Anxiety and Attitudes: Concurrent and Longitudinal Relations to Mathematical Competence
Geary, David C.; Hoard, Mary K.; Nugent, Lara; Chu, Felicia; Scofield, John E.; Ferguson Hibbard, Dana
Journal of Educational Psychology, v111 n8 p1447-1461 Nov 2019
Sex differences in the strength of the relations between mathematics anxiety, mathematics attitudes, and mathematics achievement were assessed concurrently in sixth grade (n = 1,091, 545 boys) and longitudinally from sixth to seventh grade (n = 190, 97 boys). Mathematics anxiety was composed of two facets, one associated with evaluations and the other for learning more generally. Girls had higher mathematics anxiety for evaluations than did boys (ds = -0.30 to -0.52), but not for mathematics learning. In sixth grade, the negative correlation between mathematical competence and mathematics anxiety for evaluations was stronger in girls than in boys. Longitudinally, higher mathematical competence in sixth grade was associated with lower mathematics anxiety for evaluations and better mathematics attitudes in seventh grade for girls but not for boys. The key finding is that adolescent girls' mathematics anxiety and their attitudes toward mathematics are more reflective of their actual mathematical competence than they are for boys. One implication is that relative to boys with low mathematics achievement, girls with low achievement are at higher risk of developing mathematics anxiety and poor attitudes toward mathematics.
Descriptors: Gender Differences, Mathematics Anxiety, Student Attitudes, Mathematics Achievement, Grade 6, Grade 7, Early Adolescents, Public Schools, Algebra, Secondary School Students, Attitude Change, Longitudinal Studies, Intelligence Tests, Achievement Tests, Test Anxiety, Adolescent Development, Self Efficacy
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 6; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Grade 7; Junior High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (NIH); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Missouri
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence; Wechsler Individual Achievement Test
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01HD087231; DRL1659133