Academic Self-Efficacy as the Mediator between Self-Oriented Perfectionism and Test Anxiety

Academic Self-Efficacy as the Mediator between Self-Oriented Perfectionism and Test Anxiety A. Ardaani J. Fathaabaadi, Ph.D. O. Shokri, Ph.D. M.A. Mazaaheri, Ph.D. Given the predominant problem of test anxiety among students of all levels, it would be helpful to discover ways of combatting it through changes that could be brought about in factors involved in this phenomenon. That is why the present research, based on its theoretical foundation, has selected to assess the impact of self-efficacy and perfectionism on the said construct using structural modeling method. The three instruments used to measure these three constructs were all already made and of acceptable validity and reliability. A handy group of junior high school students in Tehran participated in the study. Findings show that academic self-efficacy mediates between test anxiety and only self-oriented perfectionism as it plays almost no role in test anxiety’s relationship to socially prescribed perfectionism. The overall conclusion is that although academic self-efficacy reduces test anxiety, to an extent, stressful situations affect their beliefs in such a way that they experience a significant amount of test anxiety. These findings support the special vulnerability hypothesis by showing that self-oriented perfectionism in stressful situations may lead to undesirable consequences. Key words: test anxiety, self-oriented perfectionism, socially prescribed perfectionism, self-efficacy