Running head: TEST ANXIETY 1

Test Anxiety: Undergraduates and The Use of the Self-Administered Workshop to Target

Cognitions

Emma Harrison

Rutgers University
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Test Anxiety: Undergraduates and The Use of the Self-Administered Workshop to Target

Cognitions

Anxiety is a physical and psychological reaction to an anticipated stressor. Anxiety is

founded in worries about the future (van Rooij, Stenson, 2018). Physically, individuals who have

anxiety are nervous, anxious, restless, tense, and have headaches, stomach problems, sweat a lot,

shortness of breath, fast and pounding heart beats, lightheadedness, and faintness.

Psychologically, they think negatively and compare themselves to others (van Rooij, et al.,

2018). Females are more likely to experience test anxiety than males are (Núñez-Peña et al.,

2016). 41.6% of college students experience anxiety in general (American Psychological

Association, 2013), and 20-35% of all college students experience test anxiety (Naveh-

Benjamin, Lavi, McKeachie, Lin, 1997).

Test anxiety is a specific form of anxiety in which students fear failing the exam prior to

even taking it. According to Sieber, O’Neil, and Tobias (1977), test anxiety is a “scientific

construct, refers to the set of phenomenological, physiological and behavioral responses that

accompany concern about possible negative consequences or failure of an exam or a similar

evaluative situation”

According to humanistic theory, anxiety occurs in children who set high expectations for

themselves to feel accepted by others, but are unable to reach them. In addition, according to

cognitive theory, anxiety occurs because of patterns of thoughts that lead to increased worry and

negative thoughts (van Rooij, Stenson, 2018). Combining these two theories implies that anxiety

is associated with expectations and thoughts. Thus, students with test anxiety, might set high

expectations for their test performance and then tell themselves that they cannot reach that

expectation. They sometimes have negative thoughts about how they will do on the test or feel
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angry or not prepared even when they have spent a great deal of time studying. They approach

tests as threats with low self-confidence and negative self-talk, and with the thoughts that they

will fail (Ergene, 2003). They might tell themselves, “You're not going to do well on this test.

You should have studied more.” Then after these negative thoughts someone with test anxiety

might begin fidgeting, sweating, and feeling ill. All of this resulting in negative outcomes.

Researchers have found that negative thoughts or cognitions can affect college student

outcomes. Students with test anxiety might have low academic performance. (Cassady &

Johnson, 2002). Research indicates that students with test anxiety tend to make lower grades on

tests (Mohamadi, Alishahi, & Soleimani, 2014). Test anxiety is associated with low test

performance, lack of degree completion, and selection of careers (Topp, 1989). In fact, some

individuals with test anxiety select occupations below their ability level (Krohne and Laux,

1982).

To help students with test anxiety, interventions have been developed to address different

characteristics including expectations and thoughts. Ergene (2003) conducted a meta-analysis in

which he synthesized the results of 56 studies of test anxiety reduction programs. The anxiety

reduction programs included behavioral, cognitive, cognitive-behavioral, skill focused,

behavioral and skill focused, cognitive and skill focused, behavioral and skill focused combined .

He found that interventions that combined skill focused interventions with behavior, or cognitive

approaches were most effective (Ergene, 2003). Treatment for test anxiety can be individual or

group. Also, because it might take time to get help, some programs are self-help (Reiss et al.,

2017). Reiss et al. (2017) compared three interventions, a self-help group, relaxation techniques,

and imagery rescripting and found a statistically significant reduction in test anxiety with all

three methods. Thus, it appears that cognitive behavioral strategies are effective to help test
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anxiety. However, few studies have evaluated the use self-administered interventions for test

anxiety, therefore, one such intervention will be the independent variable in this study, the self-

administered workshop to target cognitions.

The purpose of this study is to test the effects of the self-administered workshop on

anxiety, nervousness, and fear of anxiety. I will use the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale

(FNE), Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and Measure of nervousness before and after treatment.

Also, I will use information on the age, sex, and year in school to see if different groups respond

differently. I hypothesize that test anxiety, nervousness, and fear of negative evaluation will

decrease after the intervention. Therefore, the research questions are: What is the effect of the

self-administered workshop on test anxiety, nervousness, and fear of negative evaluation

(dependent variables). Is there a difference of the effect between age, sex and year in school?
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References

Cassady, J.C., Johnson, R.E., 2002. Cognitive test anxiety and academic Performance.

Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27 (2), 270–295. doi: 10.1006/ceps.2001.1094

College students’ mental health is a growing concern, survey finds. (2013, June). Retrieved from

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/06/college-students.aspx

Eisenberg, D., Gollust, S., Golberstein, E., & Hefner, J. (2007). Prevalence and correlates of

depression, anxiety, and suicidality among university students. American Journal of

Orthopsychiatry, 77(4), 534–542. doi:10.1037/0002-9432.77.4.534

Naveh-Benjamin, M., Lavi, H., McKeachie, W. J., & Lin, Y. G. (1997). Individual differences in

students’ retention of knowledge and conceptual structures learned in university and high

school courses: The case of test anxiety. Applied Cognitive Psychology, x (11), 507–526.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/(SICI) 1099-0720(199712)11:6b507::AID-ACP482N3.0.CO;2-

Núñez-Peña, M., Suárez-Pellicioni, M., & Bono, R. (2016). Gender differences in test anxiety

and their impact on higher education students’ academic achievement. Procedia - Social

and Behavioral Sciences, 228, 154–160. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.07.023

Stenson, A., Rooij, S. V. (2018, February 20). Anxiety - What Is Anxiety & How To Treat It.

Retrieved from https://www.anxiety.org/what-is-anxiety