Math Anxiety Differentially Affects Boys’ and Girls’ Arithmetic, Reading and Fluid Intelligence Skills in Fifth Graders
نویسندگان
چکیده
Previous research has shown that math anxiety negatively affected cognitive performance in adults and adolescents beyond arithmetic. In children, math anxiety has been reported to impair arithmetic performance mainly in girls, but the effect of math anxiety on other cognitive skills has not been investigated in children so far. To fill this gap, the present study examined the effects of math anxiety on arithmetic, reading and fluid intelligence in 5-grade children, studying possible gender differences and controlling for the effects of test anxiety. The results indicated marked gender differences in the relation between math anxiety and cognitive abilities, showing that only in girls’ math anxiety was negatively correlated with arithmetic, reading and fluid intelligence. In boys, no significant correlations were found between math anxiety and the three cognitive abilities. Theoretical and practical implications of these results will be discussed.
منابع مشابه
Female teachers' math anxiety affects girls' math achievement.
People's fear and anxiety about doing math--over and above actual math ability--can be an impediment to their math achievement. We show that when the math-anxious individuals are female elementary school teachers, their math anxiety carries negative consequences for the math achievement of their female students. Early elementary school teachers in the United States are almost exclusively female...
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