Semester
Fall
Date of Graduation
1998
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MA
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Daniel W. McNeil.
Committee Co-Chair
Stanle H. Cohen
Committee Member
Philip N. Chase
Abstract
Conceptualizations of mathematics anxiety, as well as factors that are empirically related to it, were identified from the existing literature. These factors are test, evaluation, trait, and state anxiety, as well as gender and level of math ability. Differences in these factors were hypothesized to distinguish subtypes of highly math anxious individuals from one another. In order to determine whether subtypes exist, cluster analyses were performed on a sample of 96 highly math anxious college students. The results revealed three clusters distinguished by completion time on two versions of a math test and age. Furthermore, participants' responses on a variety of self-report questionnaires, as well as performance on a math test, were assessed under stressful versus relaxing testing conditions. Stressful testing conditions produced a decrement in math test performance, and also resulted in an increase in state anxiety level, particularly for women. The obtained results supported the existence of math anxious subtypes; they also suggested that level of anxiety can be manipulated by instructions in a math testing setting.
Recommended Citation
Rabalais, Aline Elizabeth, "Identification of math anxiety subtypes" (1998). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 836.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/836