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Anxieties and Attitudes Related

to Mathematics in Grades 3 and
6
a a
Mark J. Gierl & Jeffrey Bisanz
a
University of Alberta , USA
Published online: 14 Jul 2010.

To cite this article: Mark J. Gierl & Jeffrey Bisanz (1995) Anxieties and Attitudes
Related to Mathematics in Grades 3 and 6, The Journal of Experimental Education,
63:2, 139-158, DOI: 10.1080/00220973.1995.9943818

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 Journal of Experimental Education, 63(2), 139-1 58

Anxieties and Attitudes Related

to Mathematics in Grades 3 and 6
Downloaded by [SDSU San Diego State University] at 06:34 29 December 2014

MARK J. GIERL
JEFFREY BISANZ
University of Alberta

ABSTRACT. Little is known about the development of mathematics anxiety in ele-

mentary school students. To address this gap in knowledge, the authors evaluated stu-
dents in Grades 3 and 6 on measures of mathematics anxiety, school test anxiety, and
attitudes toward mathematics to determine (a) whether different forms of mathemat-
ics anxiety exist, (b) whether mathematics test anxiety differs from school test anxi-
ety, and (c) whether mathematics anxiety is related to different attitudes toward
mathematics. Evidence was found for two distinct forms of mathematics anxiety: test
and problem-solving anxiety. Mathematics test anxiety increased with age relative to
mathematics problem-solvinganxiety; this result demonstrated that children become
more anxious about mathematics testing situations as they progress through school.
Mathematicstest anxiety was related, but not identical, to s c h d test anxiety, and stu-
dents in both grades were less anxious about math tests than about academic testing
generally. Finally, older students tended to show more positive attitudes toward math-
ematics than did younger students, and relations between these attitudes and the two
forms of mathematics anxiety also changed between Grades 3 and 6.

ANXIETY ABOUT MATHEMATICShas been associated, empirically or the-

oretically, with a variety of negative outcomes, including lower mathematics per-
formance (Richardson & Suinn, 1972; Suinn, Taylor, & Edwards, 1988; Tocci &
Engelhard, 199l), lower mathematics achievement and course enrollment for
females than for males (Fennema, 1977; LeFevre, Kulak, & Heymans, 1992;
Tobias & Weissbrod, 1980), and decreased enrollment in advanced and optional
mathematics courses (Brush, 1980; Fennema & Sherman, 1976). Despite fre-
quent speculation that mathematics anxiety begins to emerge early in children’s
school experience (Mandler, 1989) and contributes directly or indirectly to these
negative outcomes, very little research has been conducted on the development
of mathematics anxiety in young children. For example, in a recent meta-analy-
sis of research on sex differences in mathematics anxiety and attitudes toward
mathematics, Hyde, Fennema, Ryan, Frost, and Hopp (1990) did not identify a

139
 140 Journul of E,rperrmental Education

single study of mathematics anxiety involving children younger than 1 1 years of

age. Similarly, in a comprehensive bibliography of research on mathematics anx-
iety, Hembree (1988) did not cite any published studies with children under 11
years of age and cited only one with 11- and 12-year-olds (see also Hembree,
1990). Consequently, little is known about the development of mathematics anx-
iety during the elementary school years.
To address this gap in knowledge, we studied mathematics anxiety among stu-
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dents in Grades 3 and 6, and we focused on three issues: (a) whether different
forms of mathematics anxiety exist in students at these two grade levels, (b)
whether mathematics test anxiety in children differs substantially from a more
general anxiety about testing, and (c) whether mathematics anxiety is related to
a variety of attitudes children might have toward mathematics.
The first issue-whether different forms of mathematics anxiety exist-has
important implications for assessing mathematics anxiety, developing theories,
identifying related variables, and determining prevalence rates. Mathematics
anxiety can be defined as “feelings of tension and anxiety that interfere with the
manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in a wide
variety of ordinary life and academic situations” (Richardson & Suinn, 1972, p.
55 1). Often mathematics anxiety is assessed as if it were a unitary construct, but
recently researchers identified different aspects of mathematics anxiety in older
children and adolescents (e.g., Wigfield & Meece, 1988). For example, Suinn et
al. (1988) tested more than 1,100 students in Grades 4-6 with the Mathematics
Anxiety Rating Scale, Elementary Form (MARS-E), a questionnaire they devel-
oped for use with older elementary school children. A factor analysis revealed
two situational components of mathematics anxiety: mathematics test anxiety, as
reflected in answers to questions about children’s feelings during math tests, and
mathematics per$ormance adequacy anxiety, as reflected in answers to questions
about solving math problems in situations other than testing. Unfortunately,
Suinn et al. did not analyze their data separately by grade or age group; conse-
quently, no insights can be gained about the development of these two compo-
nents of mathematics anxiety. In the present study, we adapted questions from the
MARS-E for use with children in Grade 3 . We examined responses to identify
changes as children progress from Grade 3 to Grade 6.
The second issue is whether mathematics anxiety differs in important ways
from a general anxiety about tests in school. Mathematics anxiety could reflect
nothing more than an emotional reaction to testing that is largely independent of
the content of mathematics, or it may be a unique anxiety reaction associated
with math (Brush, 1978; Richardson & Woolfork, 1980; Sepie & Keeling, 1979).
This issue remains controversial with respect to adults and older adolescents (see
Ramirez & Dockweiler, 1987), but to our knowledge it has never been addressed
in younger children. To determine whether mathematics anxiety is identical to
test anxiety in elementary school-aged children, we compared responses to ques-
 Gierl & Bisanz 141

tions designed to assess general test anxiety, independent of content area, with
responses to similar questions specifically about mathematics tests.
The third issue involves the relation between mathematics anxiety and various
attitudes children have toward math. The nature of this relation is becoming
increasingly important because many researchers believe that mathematics anxi-
ety is influenced by the beliefs and feelings individuals have about mathematics
(Betz, 1978; Mandler, 1989; Reyes, 1984; Wigfield & Meece, 1988; Wright &
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Miller, 1981). Several scales have been developed to assess attitudes toward
mathematics in adults and adolescents. For example, Fennema and Sherman
(1976) and Sandman (1973) developed and administered questionnaires to sec-
ondary school students to evaluate a variety of feelings and beliefs pertaining to
math, including attitudes about success in math, perceptions of encouragement
by parents, perceptions of teachers’ attitudes toward math, confidence in learning
math, enjoyment of math, math anxiety, motivation in math, and utility of math.
Correlations between mathematics anxiety and attitudes toward math have often
been found (see the review by Ramirez & Dockweiler, 1987). To our knowledge,
however, no studies have been published on the relation between attitudes toward
math and mathematics anxiety in elementary school children. In the present
study, we selected questions to measure a variety of attitudes and anxiety in stu-
dents at Grades 3 and 6.
In summary, little is known about mathematics anxiety in elementary school
children. As an initial step toward addressing issues about mathematics anxiety
and its development, we created measures that were based on previous research
and adapted for use with children in Grades 3 and 6. We used the Mathematics
Anxiety Survey (MAXS) to compare the two aspects of mathematics anxiety
identified by Suinn et al. (1988). We used the School Test Anxiety Survey
(STAS) to assess nervousness evoked by tests in school. Finally, we used the
MathematicsAttitudes Survey (MATS) to evaluate six attitudes toward math that
have been implicated in previous research as key variables related to mathemat-
ics anxiety (cf. McLeod, 1992; Reyes, 1984): (a) usefulness of math, (b) inuin-
sic value of math, (c) worry about doing well, (d) confidence in learning math,
(e) perceptions of parents’ attitudes toward math, and (f)attitudes toward success
in math. Attitudes such as these could have an important influence on the devel-
opment of mathematical skills and on the emotional reactions children associate
with mathematics (McLeod, 1988, 1992).

Method
Subjects
The sample consisted of 95 students in a public school system from a broad
range of ethnic and cultural groups. A total of 47 students from Grade 3 (17 boys,
30 girls) and 48 students from Grade 6 (22 boys, 26 girls) participated. Median
 142 Journal o f Exoerirneirtul Educuticirr

ages (in yr:mo) were 9:6 (range 8: 1 to 10:2) and 12:7 ( 1 1 : 1 to 13: 1 1) for Grades
3 and 6, respectively. Data for one Grade 6 boy were omitted from the analyses
because he failed to understand several of the survey items. All students who par-
ticipated had parental consent.

Materials
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Mathematics Anxiety Survey. The MAXS was created to assess each student’s
self-rated level of nervousness to different situations involving mathematics. Stu-
dents were instructed to circle their level of nervousness on a 5-point scale rang-
ing from not at all nervous to very, very nervous. The 5-point scale was identical
to that used by Suinn et al. (1988) except that drawings of a not at all nervous
and very, wery nervous boy or girl were presented at the ends of the scale to
ensure that students would not confuse the response options. Items were ordered
unsystematically with the constraint that the two types of items, mathematics test
anxiety and mathematics problem-solving anxiety, were divided evenly between
the first and second halves of the survey. The order of items in the first form was
reversed to create a second form.
Mathematics test anxiety can be defined as feelings of nervousness associated
with past, present, and future mathematical testing situations. We included six
items in the MAXS to assess mathematics test anxiety, and all contained the
phrase math test. Students were asked to respond to items such as “How nervous
and tense do you usually feel during math tests?” All students received the same
mathematics test anxiety items. Several items were adapted from the MARS-E,
and one item was adapted from a math and reading study conducted by Nesbitt
(1990). Based on the results of a pilot study, we modified all questions slightly
so they would be easy for Grade 3 students to read.
Mathematics problem-solving anxiety can be defined as feelings of nervous-
ness associated with situations both in and out of school that require students to
solve math problems and use the solutions in some way. To account for the diver-
sity of situations that may involve mathematics problem solving, we asked two
questions about reactions to (a) solving and presenting math problems in class
(e.g., “How nervous would you usually feel reading your answer to math ques-
tions out loud in class?’), (b) solving numerical problems (“How nervous would
you feel having to add up 624 + 73 in your head?’), (c) solving everyday math
problems (“How nervous would you feel figuring out whether you had enough
money to buy three comic books and two pencils?”), and (d) solving word prob-
lems of the type found in mathematics textbooks. By including four groups of
questions, we hoped to cover many of the situations that elicit mathematics anx-
iety in children.
School Test Anxiety Survey. The STAS was developed to help differentiate be-
tween mathematics test anxiety and school test anxiety. Items on the STAS were
 Gierl & Bisanz 143

worded identically to the six mathematics test anxiety items on the MAXS,
except math test was replaced by the phrase rest in school;the same 5-point scale
was used. We created two forms, as we had with the MAXS.
Mathematics Attitude Survey. The MATS was designed to assess students’ atti-
tudes toward math. Based on the research findings of several studies (Fennema &
Sherman, 1976; Nesbitt, 1990; Sandman, 1973; Wigfield & Meece, 1988), we
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divided attitudes into six categories that appeared to be closely related to mathe-
matics anxiety and that were cited in two or more of the above studies. Students
were instructed to respond to 42 statements about mathematics on a 5-point scale
ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Items in each category were con-
structed to include approximately half positive and half negative statements.
Responses on negative statements were later converted to the same scale as that
used for positive statements by reversing the scale response. We created two forms,
as we had with the MAXS. Students in both grades received the same items.
The first attitudes examined were usefulness of mathematics (Fennema &
Sherman, 1976) and value of math in society (Sandman, 1973).These two groups
of attitudes were combined into one because the items were similar. This cate-
gory was designed to measure students’beliefs about the usefulness and value of
mathematics in their present and future education, as well as in situations outside
of school.
The second category, called intrinsic value, was designed to measure students’
overall interest in exploring and experimenting with math both in and out of
school. The items included had been used by previous researchers to measure
effectance motivation (Fennema & Sherman, 1976) and motivation in mathe-
matics (Sandman, 1973). These two components were combined because the
items were similar.
Worry about doing well was the third category (Nesbitt, 1990; Wigfield &
Meece, 1988). Items in this category were designed to measure self-deprecating
thoughts about, and the consequences of, one’s performance in math.
The fourth category covered confidence in learning math (Fennema & Sher-
man, 1976) and self-concept in math (Sandman, 1973). These two components
were combined because the items were similar. Items were designed to measure
students’ confidence in their ability to learn and perform well in math situations.
The fifth category, labeled perceptions of parent’s attitudes toward math (Fen-
nema & Sherman, 1976), was designed to measure students’perceptions of their
mothers’ and fathers’ attitudes.
The final category was attitude toward success. Items were included to assess
how students evaluate their own success in math according to a 2 x 2 matrix of
possibilities. The first dimension of the matrix represented how students judged
their success. Students could evaluate their performance on a criterion basis (i.e.,
number questions answered correctly) or a normative basis (i.e.. performance rel-
 I44 Journol of Experimental Education

ative to other students). The second dimension represented the source of standards
for evaluating success. Students could evaluate success according to their person-
al standards or according to the standards of others. Each dimension of the matrix
was crossed, and two questions appeared in each of the resulting four cells.
Achievement test scores. We collected the results of an achievement test in math-
ematics from school records. This 50-item test, created by the assessment divi-
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sion of the school system and by district math teachers, was designed to measure
achievement in five areas: understanding of mathematical knowledge; applica-
tion of mathematical knowledge to real-world situations; awareness of patterns,
relations, and principles; solution of nonroutine problems; and communication
using appropriate mathematical language. No psychometric information about
the test was available.

Procedure
We administered the surveys in a fixed order, the STAS during the first session
and the MATS and the MAXS during the second. The two sessions were sepa-
rated by at least l day. The STAS was administered first so that responses to
questions about school test anxiety would not be unduly influenced by the math-
ematical content of the other two surveys.
Students from each class were tested either in their classroom or in the library,
depending on the teacher's preference. An adult read the instructions and the
items for each survey to the students. The students completed two practice items
prior to beginning the surveys. A second adult circulated among the students to
ensure that the surveys were completed according to the instructions and to help
with any problems.

Results
Forms of Mathematics Anxiety
We conducted the first set of analyses to evaluate the reliability of the MAXS
and its two subscales, mathematics test anxiety and mathematics problem-solv-
ing anxiety, and to determine whether the subscales could be distinguished from
each other. Cronbach alpha coefficients were calculated for the Grade 3 and
Grade 6 forms of the MAXS to assess the homogeneity of the scale. Alpha coef-
ficients for the MAXS and its two subscales were reasonably high (see Table 1).
Here and elsewhere, we considered alpha coefficients of .70 and greater as clear-
ly acceptable (e.g., Nunnally, 1978) and somewhat lower values as adequate for
some purposes (Pedhazur & Schmelkin, 1991).
Next we determined whether scores on these subscales differed from each other
as a function of grade or sex. We analyzed ratings with a 2 x 2 x 2 (Grade x Sex
x Mathematics Anxiety Subscale: mathematics test anxiety vs. mathematics prob-
 Gierl & Bisanz 145

TABLE 1
Cronbach Alpha Reliability Estimates for the MathematicsAnxiety Survey, School Test
Anxiety Survey, and the MathematicsAttitude Survey as a Function of Grade

survey Grade 3 Grade 6

~~ ~

Mathematics Anxiety Survey (MAXS) .85 (.76)a .87 (.75)

Mathematics test anxiety .85 .89
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Mathematics problem-solving anxiety .73 .70

School Test Anxiety Survey (STAS) .7 1 .71
Mathematics Attitude Survey (MATS) .81 (.65) .84 (.58)
Usefulness .30 .63
Intrinsic value .78 .82
worry .34 .6 1
Confidence .73 .89
Perceptions .56 .43
Attitude toward success .64 .78

Vronbach’sstratified alpha coefficient is provided in parentheses.

lem-solving anxiety) analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures on

the last variable. Mean responses are presented in the top two lines of Table 2.
Ratings differed for the two mathematics anxiety subscales, F( 1, 90) = 20.78,
p < .01, but this difference was qualified by a Grade x MathematicsAnxiety Sub-
scale interaction, F( 1,90) = 2 1.19,p < .01. Grade 3 students reported similar lev-
els of nervousness in math test and math problem-solving situations. In contrast,
Grade 6 students reported higher levels of nervousness in math test situations
than in math problem-solving situations, F( 1, 90) = 42.86, p < .01. Grade 6 stu-
dents reported higher levels of mathematics test anxiety than did Grade 3 stu-
dents, F(1, 180) = 11S O , p < .01, but the effect of grade on mathematics prob-
lem-solving anxiety was negligible.
An analysis of the frequency of mean ratings on the two MAXS subscales high-
iighted the differences between Grades 3 and 6 (see Figure 1). The distribution of
mean ratings for the two subscales was nearly identical for Grade 3 students, with
many students reporting low levels of nervousness and few students reporting high
levels of nervousness. Grade 6 students showed a similar distribution of mean rat-
ing for mathematics problem-solving anxiety. For mathematics test anxiety, how-
ever, many Grade 6 students reported a moderate level of nervousness. We used a
Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample test to evaluate the distribution of MAXS sub-
scale ratings as a function of grade. The two distributions differed for mathemat-
ics test anxiety, p < .01, but not for mathematics problem-solving anxiety.
One interpretation of these results is that reported nervousness about mathe-
matics testing may increase as students progress though elementary school,
whereas nervousness about mathematics problem solving remains low and rela-
 I46 Journal of Experimental Education

TABLE 2
Mean Responses on the MathematicsAnxiety Survey, School Test Anxiety Survey,
Mathematics Attitude Survey, and MathematicsAchievement Test as a Function of Grade

Survey Grade 3 Grade 6

M SD M SD

Mathematics Anxiety Survey (MAXS) 2.10 .86 2.65 .92

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Mathematics test anxiety

Mathematics problem-solving anxiety 2.12 .78 I .97 .56
School Test Anxiety Survey, (STAS) 2.37 .76 3.00 .68
Mathematics Attitude Survey (MATS)
Usefulness 3.50, .63 4.07, .57
Intrinsic value 3.68,, .80 3.55, .75
worry 3.16c .65 3.53, .6 I
Confidence 4.12a .74 4.15, .76
Perceptions 4.03, .67 4.17, .47
Attitude toward success 4.01, .69 4.30, .57
Mathematics achievement test 43.00 7.08 30.30 9.58

Nore. The scale ranged from I to 5. with higher mean scores corresponding to more anxiety for the M A X S and
STAS and more agreement for the MATS. Subscriptsdenote means within a column that do not differ significant-
ly (alpha = .05) for MATS values defined by the combination of grade and math attitude.

Figure 1. Number of students with different mean ratings as a function of grade and
math anxiety subscale.

Grade 3 18 - Grade 6
I6 16 - 0 Math test anxiety
14 -
I2 -
10 -
8 -

6-

4-

-
135 1.75 235 2.75 3.25 3.75 Afs 4.75 1.25 1.75 235 2.75 3.25 3.75 4.25 4.75

Mean nervousness rating Mean nervousness rating

Note. Numbers on the abscissa represent midpoints for each of eight equal intervals.
 Gierl & Bisanz 147

tively stable. This conclusion requires two qualifications, however. First, al-
though students in Grade 6 reported higher levels of mathematics test anxiety
than did younger students, the majority of their ratings reflected only low to mod-
erate levels of nervousness. Second, an interpretation of the interaction between
grade and subscale is complicated by the possibility that students in the two
grades may have used the subscale differently. If, for example, the relation
between obseited scores and the underlying psychological construct was differ-
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ent for children in the two grades, then apparent similarities or differences
between observed scores may be misleading. Given the similarity of mean sub-
scale scores in Grade 3 and the diverging nature of the interaction (Loftus, 1978),
we can conclude that mathematics test anxiety increases across grade relative to
mathematics problem-solving anxiety.
The preceding analyses confirm that mathematics test anxiety and mathemat-
ics problem-solving anxiety show different patterns of change across grade and
therefore are not identical. Additional analyses showed that the two measures are
related, but not identical, within each grade as well. As shown in Table 3, math-
ematics test anxiety correlated significantly with mathematics problem-solving
anxiety (corrected for attenuation, the correlations were .83 and .78 in Grades 3
and 6, respectively), as would be expected for two forms of mathematics anxiety.
If the two forms of anxiety were completely redundant, however, then they would
not be associated differentially with a third variable, such as achievement scores
in mathematics. Correlations between mathematics achievement and the two
forms of mathematics anxiety were moderate and negative for both grades,
although the correlation between mathematics test anxiety and achievement was
not statistically significant in Grade 3 (see Table 3). In multiple regressions, the
anxiety measures together accounted for a small but significant portion of the
variability in mathematics achievement in Grade 3, F(2,43) = 3.44, p c .05, R2
= .14, and in Grade 6, F(2,44) = 4.68, p c .05, R2 = .18. In both grades, the rela-
tion between mathematics achievement and problem-solving anxiety was nearly
significant @s = .07) after the effect of test anxiety was partialled out. In contrast,
the effect of mathematics test anxiety was negligible after mathematics problem-
solving anxiety was partialled out. Thus, individual differences in mathematics
test anxiety are similar, but not identical, to individual differences in mathemat-
ics problem-solving anxiety at both grade levels.

Relation Between School Test Anxiety and Mathematics Test Anxiety

We conducted the second set of analyses to evaluate the reliability of the STAS
and to determine whether school test anxiety and mathematics test anxiety can be
distinguished. Cronbach alpha coefficients were calculated to assess the homo-
geneity of the STAS in Grades 3 and 6. Next, we compared the STAS and the math-
ematics test anxiety subscale of the MAXS across grade and sex using an ANOVA
 Downloaded by [SDSU San Diego State University] at 06:34 29 December 2014

TABLE 3
Pearson Product-MomentCorrelation Matrix for the School Test Anxiety Survey and the Subscale Components in the Mathematics Anxiety and the
MathematicsAttitude Surveys as a Function of Grade

Survey I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 , Mathematics test anxiety - .61** .49** .02 -.24 .56** -.43** .09 .I2 -.33*
2. Mathematics problem-solving anxiety .66** - .21 -.08 -.26 .54** -.36* -.01 .04 .41**
3. School test anxiety SO** .42** - .I2 -.09 .01 -.20 -.I3 .07 .I0
4. Usefulness .08 -.oo .I0 - .26 -.04 .27 .44** .24 .08
5. Intrinsic value -.28 -.42** -.01 .40** - -.30* .68 .I2 .I4 .08
6. Worry .I0 .04 .04 -.37* -.I8 - -.36* .I0 .39** -.24
7. Confidence -.46* -.39** -.I7 .29* .SO** -.52** - .I2 .I7 .3l*
8. Perceptions -.I4 -.20 -.02 .29* .37* -.I2 .36* - .28 -.oo
9. Attitude toward success -.3 I * -.35* .07 .07 .09 .20 .20 .24 - .I0
10. Mathematics achievement -.26 -.37* .01 .20 .08 -.I4 .09 .06 .25 -

Note. Correlation, for Grade 3 are below the diagonal, and correlations for Grade 6 are above the diagonal.
*p < .05. **p < . O l .
 Gierl& Bisanz 149

and Pearson product-moment correlations. We also used the STAS and the mathe-
matics test anxiety subscale as predictor variables for mathematics achievement in
a multiple regression analysis to determine whether these two constructs would
account for different amounts of the variance in mathematics achievement.
Alpha coefficients were identical and acceptable at both grade levels, demon-
strating that the STAS is a relatively homogeneous measure (see Table 1). We
analyzed ratings with a 2 x 2 x 2 (Grade x Sex x Anxiety Measure: school test
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anxiety vs. mathematics test anxiety) ANOVA with repeated measures on the last
variable. Grade 6 students reported higher levels of nervousness than did Grade
3 students, F(1,90) = 17.52,p < .01 (see Table 2). Older students had higher rat-
ings of both school and mathematics test anxiety. Ratings of school test anxiety
were higher than those for mathematics test anxiety, F(1, 90) = 10.74, p < .01;
this result indicates that students in both grades were more nervous about school
tests than math tests. A Pearson product-moment correlation revealed a signifi-
cant relation between school test anxiety and mathematics test anxiety in Grade
3, r(44) = .50, and in Grade 6, 445) = .49, p s < .01. Corrected for attenuation,
the correlation between these two variables was strong (.64and .61 in Grades 3
and 6, respectively), but a considerable amount of the variance in mathematics
test anxiety remained unaccounted for by school test anxiety.
To further examine the relation between school test anxiety and mathematics
test anxiety, we used these measures as independent variables in a multiple regres-
sion analysis to account for mathematics achievement.At Grade 3, both STAS and
mathematics test anxiety failed to correlate substantially with the mathematics
achievement test scores (rs = .01 and -.26), and the two correlations were not
appreciably different, t(44) = 1.30, p = .19. In the multiple regression, mathemat-
ics test anxiety and STAS together did not account for a significant portion of the
variance in mathematics achievement; however, mathematics test anxiety did after
the influence of STAS was partialled out, F( 1,43) = 4.42, p < .05. A similar analy-
sis revealed no unique contribution of STAS. At Grade 6, mathematics achieve-
ment was correlated with mathematics test anxiety, 445) = -.33, p < .05, but not
with STAS, r = .lo, and the two correlations differed, t(44) = 2.08, p < .05. Math-
ematics test anxiety and STAS together accounted for a significant portion of the
variability in mathematics achievement, F(2,44) = 5.47, p < .05, R2 = .20.
Both variables accounted for significant portions of variance in mathematics
achievement when the other variable was partialled out, Fs( 1,43) > 4.9, ps < .05.
This pattern of results suggests that mathematics test anxiety is somewhat different
from a more general anxiety about testing in school, especially in Grade 6 students.

Relations Between Mathematics Attitudes and Mathematics Anxiety

We conducted the third set of analyses to evaluate the reliability of the MATS
and to determine whether scores in this survey differed as a function of grade or
 150 Journal of Experimental Education

sex. Cronbach alpha coefficients were calculated for the Grade 3 and Grade 6
forms of the MATS to assess the homogeneity of scale overall and of each sub-
scale. Next, we assessed differences in mathematics attitudes across grade and
sex using repeated-measures ANOVA and Neuman-Keuls comparisons. Finally,
we used ratings for mathematics test anxiety and mathematics problem-solving
anxiety as dependent variables in multiple regressions to determine whether
mathematics attitudes could account for individual differences in the two com-
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ponents of mathematics anxiety.

Alpha coefficients for the subtests of the MATS varied considerably as a func-
tion of the measure (see Table 1). At both grades, reliability estimates were rea-
sonably high on three attitude measures: intrinsic value, confidence, and attitude
toward success. Reliability estimates were less acceptable for worry, usefulness of
mathematics, and perceptions of parents’ attitudes toward math. Lower alpha
coefficients indicated that the items within these categories did not always corre-
late highly with one another and that the categories sampled a broad range of
items for that construct. Low levels of reliability limit the power of statistical tests
(Hopkins & Hopkins, 1979) and the magnitude of correlations; therefore, data
related to less reliable measures must be interpreted with more caution. Despite
low reliability in some cases, we report analyses on all six attitude measures
because the results of such analyses have been reported previously for older, but
not younger, subjects and because some of these results are informative.
We analyzed ratings using a 2 x 2 x 6 (Grade x Sex x Mathematics Attitude)
ANOVA with repeated measures on the last variable. Mean ratings are presented
in the lower portion of Table 2. Ratings varied as a function of attitude, F(5,450)
= 28.04, p < .01. There was no main effect for sex, but sex interacted with atti-
tude, F(5,450) = 3.11, p < .01. However, the only significant difference occurred
on the usefulness measure, where the boys had a higher mean than the girls.
Generally, Grade 6 students reported higher levels of agreement than did
Grade 3 students, F( 1, 90) = 7.04, p < .O 1, and ratings varied across the six atti-
tude measures, F(5, 450) = 28.04, p < .01, but these effects were qualified by a
Grade x Subscale interaction, F(5, 450) = 4.00, p < .01. Compared with Grade 3
students, Grade 6 students held more positive attitudes toward success, F( 1, 9Q)
= 3.99, p < .05; reported that they worried more about doing well in math, F( 1,
90) = 9.04, p < .01; and perceived math to be more useful, F(1, 90) = 20.19, p <
.01. (No effects were observed as a function of the two dimensions used to con-
struct the questions about attitude toward success.) Students in the two grades did
not differ in their ratings on the intrinsic value of math, their confidence in math,
and their perception of parents’ attitudes toward math.
Differences between Grades 3 and 6 were highlighted by a Neuman-Keuls
comparison at each grade level. In Table 2, means within a column that did not
differ from each other (alpha = .05) share the same subscript. In Grade 3, the
six subscale means fell into three sets. The first set consisted only of the worry
 Gierl & Bisanz 151

measure, which had the lowest mean. The second set, which included intrinsic
value and usefulness, had moderate means. The third set, with the highest
means, contained attitude toward success, perception of parents’ attitudes
toward math, and confidence. (The difference between intrinsic value and atti-
tude toward success was nearly significant.) In contrast, only two sets emerged
in Grade 6. The first set, with moderate means, contained worry and intrinsic
value. The second set included four subscale measures with higher means: use-
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fulness, confidence, perceptions of parents’ attitudes toward math, and attitude

toward success. Thus, responses to the six attitude measures clustered differ-
ently in Grades 3 and 6.
To determine whether individual differences in mathematics anxiety were
related to differences in specific mathematics attitudes, we examined correlations
and regressions involving mathematics attitudes, mathematics test anxiety, and
mathematics problem-solving anxiety (see Table 3). In Grade 3, mathematics test
anxiety correlated negatively with both attitude toward success and confidence.
In a multiple regression, the six mathematics attitudes together accounted for a
significant amount of the variance in mathematics test anxiety, F(6,40) = 3.29,p
= .01, R2 = .33. However, only confidence in learning math was a significant pre-
dictor, t(41) = -2.25, p c .05. As might be expected, less confidence in learning
math corresponded with higher mathematics test anxiety. In Grade 6, mathemat-
ics test anxiety correlated positively with worry and negatively with confidence.
In a regression, the six mathematics attitudes together accounted for a significant
amount of the variance in mathematics test anxiety, F(6,40) = 4.42,p c .01, R2 =
.40, but only worry about doing well in math was a significant predictor, t(41) =
3.28, p c .01. Not surprisingly, worry about doing well in math varied directly
with higher levels of mathematics test anxiety. These results demonstrate that
mathematics test anxiety is related primarily to one attitude measure in Grade 3
(confidence) and another in Grade 6 (worry about doing well).
We conducted similar analyses with ratings of mathematics problem-solving
anxiety. In Grade 3, mathematics problem-solving anxiety correlated negatively
with intrinsic value, confidence in learning math, and attitude toward success. In
a multiple regression, the six mathematics attitudes together accounted for a sig-
nificant amount of the variance in mathematics problem-solving anxiety, F(6,40)
= 3.41, p c .01, R2 = .34. Attitude toward success, t(41) = -2.04, p c .05, and
intrinsic value, t(41) = -2.53, p c .05, were significant predictors of mathematics
problem-solving anxiety. Thus, lower scores on attitude toward success and
intrinsic value corresponded with higher mathematics problem-solving anxiety.
In Grade 6, mathematics problem-solving anxiety correlated positively with
worry and negatively with confidence. In a regression, the six mathematics atti-
tudes together again accounted for a significant amount of the variance in math-
ematics problem-solving anxiety, F(6, 40) = 3.38, p c .01, R2 = .34. However,
only the worry subscale served as a strong predictor of mathematics problem-
 I52 Jourtinl of Experimental Education

) 3.41, p < .01, indicating that, as worry about doing well

solving anxiety, ~ ( 4 1 =
in math increased, mathematics problem-solving anxiety increased.
Taken together, these results demonstrate that mathematics problem-solving
anxiety is best predicted by different attitude measures in Grade 3 (attitude
toward success and intrinsic motivation) and in Grade 6 (worry about doing
well). Mathematics test anxiety and mathematics problem-solving anxiety shared
a common predictor (worry) in Grade 6, but not in Grade 3 . We examined corre-
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lations to determine whether the six measures of mathematics attitudes were

related to achievement in mathematics. As indicated in Table 3, none of these
correlations was significant for students in Grade 3. For Grade 6, students who
reported higher levels of confidence tended to perform better on the mathemat-
ics achievement test.

Discussion
Different Forms of Mathematics Anxiety
Based on previous research (Suinn et al., 1988), we developed measures of
anxiety related to testing and problem-solving in mathematics. Both measures
were reasonably homogeneous in Grades 3 and 6. Mean levels of self-reported
anxiety were low for both grades, although some individuals reported high lev-
els as early as Grade 3. Correlations between mathematics anxiety and achieve-
ment scores were negative and low to moderate in magnitude, consistent with
results obtained with older students and adults (Betz, 1978; Rounds & Hendel,
1980; Sepie & Keeling, 1979; Suinn et al., 1988). We found no sex differences.
Scores on the two measures were highly correlated within each grade, indicating
that individual differences tended to be consistent across both measures. The two
measures were not completely redundant, however, as indicated by the observa-
tions that mathematics problem-solving anxiety tended to account uniquely for
more variance on achievement tests than did mathematics test anxiety. Perhaps
more important, mean scores on the measures of mathematics test anxiety
increased from Grades 3 to 6 relative to mean scores on the measures of mathe-
matics problem-solving anxiety. Thus, situations can differ across grade levels in
the degree to which they elicit reports of mathematics anxiety. In particular, as
children progress through school, they become relatively more anxious about
mathematics testing than about using mathematics to solve problems in contexts
other than testing.

Mathematics Test Anxiety and School Test Anxiety

To determine whether mathematics test anxiety differed from school test anx-
iety, we asked students to respond to items on two measures of test anxiety that
were worded identically except that one referred to “math tests” and the other to
 Gierl & Bisanz 153

“tests in school.” Each measure was relatively homogeneous, and, as expected,

the two measures positively correlated with each other. Again, however, the two
measures were not completely redundant. When used as independent variables in
a multiple regression, school test anxiety and mathematics test anxiety account-
ed for different portions of the variance in mathematics achievement for both
Grades 3 and 6. Also, reported levels of mathematics test anxiety were lower, on
average, than school test anxiety at both grades, again indicating that different
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situations can elicit different levels of anxiety in elementary school students.

Thus, mathematics test anxiety appears to be related to, but somewhat different
from, school test anxiety.

Mathematics Anxiety and Attitudes Toward Mathematics

To assess possible relations between mathematics anxiety and students’ atti-
tudes toward mathematics, we developed measures of six attitudes on the basis
of previous research: usefulness of mathematics, intrinsic value, worry, confi-
dence, perceptions of parents’ attitudes toward math, and attitude toward success.
Reliability estimates were reasonably high for each grade on measures of intrin-
sic value, confidence, and attitude toward success but less acceptable on worry,
usefulness of math, and perceptions of parents’ attitudes toward math. In future
research with elementary school children, clarification of these latter constructs
will be necessary to achieve more homogeneous measures and stronger reliabil-
ity estimates.
Attitudes toward mathematics did not change in a uniform manner from Grade
3 to Grade 6, indicating that age-related differences were not due simply to
changes in response bias or in use of the response scale. Older children had high-
er scores on attitude toward success, worry, and usefulness of math than did
younger children, but the two groups did not differ on intrinsic value, confidence,
and perceptions of parents’ attitudes toward math.
Two patterns in these results are particularly interesting. First, children
became increasingly concerned about the consequences of their performance on
mathematical tasks, as reflected by the degree to which they enjoyed success
(attitude toward success) and the extent to which they dreaded failure (worry).
These changes occurred despite the fact that children showed no similar
increase with age in their enjoyment of the activity of mathematics (intrinsic
value). This developmental dissociation between concern for consequences and
enjoyment of the activity might reflect the influence of instructional practices
that emphasize evaluation of outcomes without helping children to develop
intrinsic interest in academic skills. If this interpretation proves to be correct,
then outcomes of this type would provide striking evidence that mathematical
instruction and evaluation may be promoting test-oriented attitudes that are
counterproductive to the development of mathematical skills and are contrary to
 I54 Journul of Experimenrul Educurion

the goals established by mathematics educators (National Council of Teachers

of Mathematics, 1989).
Second, older children were more likely than younger children to value the
importance of mathematics (usefulness), despite any age-related change in their
opinions about how their parents value mathematics (perceptions of parents’ atti-
tudes toward math). Students’ attitudes about the utility of mathematics might be
influenced by a number of factors (e.g., teacher’s views or students’ increasing-
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ly sophisticated appreciation of societal demands on adolescents and adults), but

apparently these attitudes are not altered because of changes in children’s inter-
pretation of their parents’ views. To the extent that students’ beliefs about the util-
ity of mathematics might influence their selection of mathematics courses and
mathematics-related careers, identification of factors that influence these beliefs
should be an important goal for research (Reyes, 1984).
We also found grade-related changes in the relations between mathematics anx-
iety and attitudes toward mathematics. Scores on the six attitude measures togeth-
er accounted for significant portions of the variance in mathematics test anxiety
and mathematics problem-solving anxiety (R2s from .33 to .40). These effects
were due primarily to a few variables, however, and the pattern of these variables
differed as a function of grade. In Grade 3, mathematics test anxiety was related
negatively to confidence and, to a lesser extent, children’s attitude toward success.
Problem-solving anxiety was related negatively to intrinsic value, confidence, and
to a lesser degree, attitude toward success. Thus, Grade 3 children who reported
being more confident about doing well in mathematics and more likely to enjoy
success in mathematics also reported lower levels of both test and problem-solv-
ing anxiety. In contrast, children who reported greater enjoyment of the activity of
mathematics (intrinsic value) tended to show lower levels of problem-solving anx-
iety, but test anxiety was not significantly related. This latter finding provides
additional evidence that these two forms of anxiety are indeed different.
In Grade 6, the pattern of results was much more straightforward: Indjvidual
differences in both types of mathematics anxiety were positively related to worry
and, to a lesser degree, negatively related to confidence. The relation between
worry and mathematics anxiety might seem self-evident because questions used
to assess worry, mathematics test anxiety, and mathematics problem-solving anx-
iety appear to be so similar. More surprising, perhaps, is that Grade 3 children
showed no such relation (see Table 3). Apparently, individual differences among
these young children in their responses to questions about “nervousness” (to
assess mathematics test and problem-solving anxiety) did not correspond to indi-
vidual differences in responses to questions about whether they “worry” about
mathematics performance.
Thus, the relation between mathematics anxiety and attitudes toward mathe-
matics was not the same for students in Grade 3 as for students in Grade 6. In
Grade 3, measures involving confidence, positive feelings about being success-
 Gierl & Bisanz 155

ful, and the enjoyment of doing mathematics were related to mathematics anxi-
ety. Moreover, this relation varied somewhat according to whether the type of
mathematics anxiety involved taking tests or solving problems in nontesting sit-
uations. In Grade 6, the relations between attitudes and mathematics anxiety
were more predictable and uniform: Worry was significantly related to both test
and problem-solving anxiety. An attempt to provide a theoretical account that
would integrate these findings would be overly speculative at this point, but
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clearly any such theory would be misleading if differences among grade levels
were assumed to be negligible.

Sex Differences

A common assumption is that sex-related differences in mathematics perfor-

mance are due, in part, to greater mathematics anxiety in females than in males
(e.g., Tobias, 1978). Although sex differences in mathematics anxiety have been
found for adolescents and adults in many studies, these differences have tended
to be rather small (Hyde et al., 1990). In the present study, we found no evidence
that boys and girls differ on measures of mathematics anxiety in either Grade 3
or 6. Thus, any pervasive sex differences in mathematics anxiety that emerge
probably do so after the elementary school years.
More generally, the almost complete lack of sex differences on any of the anx-
iety or attitude measures is notable. In recent years, researchers have generated a
number of hypotheses about possible links between students’ attitudes toward
mathematics, students’ performance in mathematics, and the ways in which stu-
dents are socialized, all in an effort to account for sex differences in performance
on achievement tests and in selection of mathematics-related careers (e.g., Kim-
ball, 1989). The vast majority of the studies on this topic have involved adoles-
cents and adults. In the present study with younger children, the only variable on
which boys and girls differed was usefulness: Boys at both grade levels consid-
ered mathematics to be more useful than girls did. Acceptance of this result
should be tentative for two reasons. First, in a recent meta-analysis, Hyde et al.
(1990) found no consistent evidence for sex differences in usefulness in studies
with young adolescents, although small differences have been observed among
older adolescents and adults. It seems unlikely that sex differences in usefulness
would emerge among elementary school children, disappear among young ado-
lescents, and reappear later. Second, the chance of rejecting the null hypothesis
‘incorrectlyon at least one test of sex differences is high, given the large number
of such tests in our analyses. If this result is replicated, however, then it would be
reasonable to speculate that young children’s views about the usefulness of math-
ematics may serve as a building block for later sex differences in attitudes, anx-
ieties, and performance. It is likely that teachers will be able to modify students’
views about the usefulness of mathematics (Reyes, 1984).
 I56 Jouriiul of Experimental Education

Conclusions
We examined the development of mathematics anxiety in children as young as
8 years of age, using questionnaire methods adapted from previous research with
adolescents and adults. Aside from the specific findings already described, three
major conclusions seem warranted. First, questionnaire-based methods clearly
have considerable utility, as shown by the findings that (a) different forms of
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mathematics anxiety can be distinguished in children; (b) mathematics test anx-

iety is related, but not identical to, school test anxiety; and (c) attitudes toward
mathematics, and the relationship of these attitudes to mathematics anxiety,
change considerably across elementary school grades. In future studies, ques-
tionnaires need to be refined and extended to include the growing range of con-
structs that bear on the development of mathematics anxiety (Hyde et al., 1990;
Reyes, 1984) and to identify sources of unreliability in existing constructs that
may hinder measurement.
Second, alternative methods need to be developed to study the development of
mathematics anxiety in children (McLeod, 1988, 1992). As useful as question-
naire methodology has been (Fennema, 1989), questionnaires are inherently lim-
ited because of possible ambiguities and age-related differences in interpretation
of items. Results and conclusions from questionnaire-based studies will be
strengthened to the extent that converging evidence can be obtained with other
methods (McLeod, 1992) such as interviews (Buxton, 1981; Byrd, 1982) and
behavioral observations. In our view, an immediate priority for research on the
genesis of mathematics anxiety should be the development of alternative meth-
ods that can provide diverse but complementary forms of evidence.
Third, given the many grade-related changes identified in this study, aggregat-
ing data across different age or grade levels is likely to obscure potentially impor-
tant results. Presumably, research on anxieties and attitudes related to mathemat-
ics should provide insights into (a) the relations between affect and cognition in
development, (b) the origins of later emerging differences related to sex or other
characteristics, and (c) the creation of instructional methods that will optimize
the acquisition of mathematical skills. To do so, methods and theories must be
sensitive to age- and grade-related changes that occur early in the development
of mathematics anxiety and attitudes toward mathematics.

NOTE
This research was supported with funds from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada. We are very grateful to Jeannie Dominey and Rita Sasges for their help in prepar-
ing the surveys; to Greg Sadesky and Kim Paulhus for their help in data collection; and to the stu-
dents, teachers, and principals at Pollard Meadows and Julia Kiniski Elementary Schools in Edmon-
ton, Alberta, for their cooperation.
All surveys are available from Mark J. Gierl at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education, 210 Education Building, 1310 South
Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6990.
 Gierl & Bisanz 157

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