Statistics anxiety, trait anxiety, learning behavior, and academic performance

Author(s): Daniel Macher, Manuela Paechter, Ilona Papousek and Kai Ruggeri
Source: European Journal of Psychology of Education, Vol. 27, No. 4 (December 2012), pp. 483-
498
Published by: Springer
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EurJPsychol
Educ(2012)27:483-498
DOI 10.1
007/s
10212-011-0090-5

Statistics anxiety, trait anxiety, learning behavior,

and academic performance

DanielMacher• ManuelaPaechter• Ilona Papoušek•

Kai Ruggeri

Received:
3 June
2011/Revised: 2011/Accepted:
15October 2011/
15November
Published 16December
online: 2011
© Instituto dePsicologia
Superior Lisboa,
Aplicada, andSpringer
Portugal Media
Science+Busincss BV2011

AbstractThe presentstudyinvestigated the relationship betweenstatisticsanxiety,

individualcharacteristics(e.g., traitanxiety and learningstrategies), and academic
performance. Studentsenrolled in a course
statistics in psychology (N=147) filledin a
questionnaireon statistics
anxiety, traitanxiety,interest in statistics,
mathematical self-
concept,learning and procrastination.
strategies, Additionally, theirperformance in the
examination was recorded. The structural equationmodelshowedthatstatistics anxiety
helda crucialroleas thestrongest directpredictorof performance. Studentswithhigher
anxietyachievedless in the examination
statistics and showedhigherprocrastination
scores.Statistics
anxietywas related to
indirectlyspending lesseffortandtimeon learning.
Traitanxietywasrelatedpositively to statistics
anxiety toacademic
and,counterintuitively,
performance. This result
can be explainedby the heterogeneity of the measureof trait
anxiety.Thepartof traitanxiety thatis unrelatedto thespecificpartof statistics
anxiety
correlated withperformance.
positively

KeywordsStatistics ■Academic
anxiety ■Learning
performance • Procrastination
strategies

Introduction

Statistics
anxietyis a pervasive
probleminmanyfields A largeproportion
ofstudy. ofstudents
statistics
identify coursesas themost courses
anxiety-inducing in their
curriculum (Zeidner
1991).Especiallyinsubjectssuchas psychology, orsociology,
education, statistics is
anxiety
widespread amongstudents (Onwuegbuzie and Wilson2003; Onwuegbuzie 2004). These
areoften
subjects chosenbystudents withlessinterest
andmorecritical in
self-assessments
mathematics andscience.Additionally,
students
oftenunderestimate
theextent in
ofstatistics

(IS!)• M.Paechter
D. Macher • I. Papoušek
ofPsychology,
Department UniversityofGraz, Austria
Graz,
e-mail:
daniel.macher@uni-graz.at
K.Ruggeri
Institute
ofPublic
Health, ofCambridge,
University UK
Cambridge,

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484 D. Macher
etal.

thesesubjects(Ruggeri et al. 2008a).As a consequence, thelikelihood ofstatisticsanxiety

increases
andmayleadtoproblems overthecourseofa study:students experience learning
difficulties,
postpone takingstatisticscoursesor statistics
examinations, delayassignments,
andshowloweracademicachievements.
Although thenegative relationshipbetween statistics
anxiety andacademicperformance
hasbeeninvestigated inseveralstudies(Zeidner1991;Onwuegbuzie 2003;Williamson and
Mattiske2002), little
is known abouthow statistics
anxietyis relatedto behavior
learning
and to whichdegreeit is relatedto students'dispositions, attitudes,or experiences.
Furthermore, theconsiderable majority of testingin statistics
anxietyhas beendonein
English-speaking studentpopulations, andtherefore, onlya limited amount ofworkexists
to demonstrate if thephenomenon is foundin otherregions.To date,onlyone study
(Ruggeriet al. 2008b)acknowledges andaddressesthisshortcoming, whilealso showing
thatstatistics
anxiety was existent buthighly variedbetween languagesandregions.

Conceptualframework

Statisticsanxiety can be described as theapprehension thatoccurswhenan individual is

exposedto statistics content, problems, instructional situations,or evaluative contexts.As
statistics-anxious studentsalways experienceanxietywhen doing statistics, statistics
anxiety describes an enduring, habitual typeofanxiety (Onwuegbuzie 2004;Onwuegbuzie
andDaley 1999).Thisis supported bycorresponding retestcorrelations (Cruiseetal. 1985;
Keeley et al. 2008; Papoušek et al. 2011). Cruise and Wilkins (1980) conceptualized
statisticsanxietyas a multidimensional construct. TheirStatistics AnxietyRatingScale
(STARS) distinguishes between six factors: (a) test and class anxiety: anxietyexperienced
whentakinga statistics examination orwhenattending a statistics
class;(b) interpretation
anxiety: anxiety whenbeingfacedwithmakingdecisionsfromor interpreting statistical
data;(c) fearof askingforhelp:anxiety whenintending to ask forhelpon a statistical
problem; (d) attitudestowards statistics
teachers; (e) computational self-concept:self-rated
abilitytomaster statisticaltasks;and(f)worth ofstatistics:perceived usefulnessofstatistics
(CruiseandWilkins1980;Cruiseet al. 1985;Hannaet al. 2008).Whereasthefirst three
components describe anxiety encountered when dealing with statistics,the latterthree
components refer to individual attitudes. For the German version of the STARS, Papoušek
etal. (2011) foundthatthesix components belongto twocorrelated second-order factors:
statistics
anxiety is measured bytheanxiety-related subscales(a toc) andstatistics attitudes
aremeasured bytheattitudes andself-concept scales(d to f).
Thepresent study focuses onthefirst superordinate factor:statistics
anxietyinitsnarrower
definition.Itinvestigateshowstatistics anxiety isrelated toindividualexperiences, skills,
traits,
andattitudes ina German-speaking sampleofuniversity students.Inaddition, theconsequences
of statisticsanxietyas a relevant specificanxietyand traitanxiety(i.e., generalanxiety
for
proneness) learning and academic performance areexamined. The studyis basedon an
input-process-outcome framework in which the relationshipbetween antecedents ofstatistics
anxiety(inputvariables), statisticsanxiety, learning processes, and learning outcomesis
investigated.

Antecedents
ofstatistics
anxiety

Threetypesof antecedents anxietycan be identified

of statistics (Baloglu2004; Baloglu
and Zelhart2004; Onwuegbuzie antecedents
and Wilson2003): situation-related (i.e.,

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Statistics trait
anxiety, behavior
andlearning
anxiety, 485

experiences andattitudes thatresultfromstatistics coursesorcoursesinrelated knowledge

domainssuchas mathematics), dispositionalantecedents, andpersonalcharacteristics such
as gender, ethnicity, andage (so-calledenvironmental antecedents that"haveaffected the
individual priorto thestatistics course";Onwuegbuzie et al. 1997,p. 19).
An important situational antecedent foracademicachievement in generalis academic
self-concept (Ferla et al. 2010; Marsh 1990; Peixoto and Almeida 2010).Ithasan influence
on academicachievement beyond that which may explainedby priorachievement
be
(Marsh and Yeung 1997). The self-concept a specificknowledgedomainmaybe
in
influenced the
by self-concept in relateddomains.Thus,itmaybe assumedthatfirst year
students' attitudes andlearning behavior in statistics areinfluenced bytheirself-concept in
mathematics (Benson1989;Zeidner1991).
Another important situational antecedent of statistics anxietyis students'interest in
statistics.
Interestdescribes an individual preference fora topicora subjectanda positively
experienced, situation-specific statewhenworking on a task(Joneset al. 2011; Krapp
2005;Pintrich and DeGroot 1990). Students with higher levelsofinterest ina subjectinvest
moretimeandeffort inlearning, apply more effective learning strategies, achievebetter
and
To date,however,
results. therelationship betweeninterest andstatisticsanxietyhas been
investigated onlyminimally.
An important dispositional characteristicthatinfluences learning andperformance in an
examination is anxiety.In most studies,anxietyhad negativeeffectson learning
(Chamorro-Premuzic andFurnham 2003). However, onlypartof thevarianceof statistics
anxiety is explainedby globaltraitanxiety(Papoušeket al. 2011; Walshand Ugumba-
Agwunobi2002), whichis associatedwitha generaltendency to interpret ambiguous
stimuliin a threatening rather thanin a non-threatening manner (Calvoet al. 1997). Up to
now,ithasnotbeeninvestigated towhichdegreespecific statistics
anxiety ontheonehand
andgeneraltraitanxiety on theotherhandmayinfluence learning behavior andacademic
performance. Yet,forinstructors it wouldbe important to knowhow theseconcepts
interact,in orderto be ableto adjustinterventions accordingly.
Withregardto personalcharacteristics, genderis certainly one of themostwidely
investigated antecedents of statisticsanxiety. In severalstudies,femalesreported higher
levelsofstatistics anxiety thanmales(Benson1989;BradleyandWygant 1998;Rodarte-
LunaandSherry 2008). Otherstudiesfoundno relationship betweengenderandstatistics
anxiety (Trimarco 1997).

Statistics traitanxiety,
anxiety, andacademicperformance

Considerable researchhas investigated therelationship betweengeneraltraitanxietyand

academicperformance. Typically,generaltraitanxietyand academicperformance show
butmoderate
significant, negative (e.g.,correlations
correlations between r=- 20 andr=~.32
byChamorro-Premuzic
reported andFurnham 2003andbyPintrich andDeGroot1990).The
cognitiveinterference approach assumes a direct negative influence of anxietyon
performance in an examination: highly anxious individualsdivide theirattention
between
examination-irrelevant
thoughts suchas self-evaluation andworry andexamination-relevant
suchas problem
thoughts solving.In theexamination, situation turn
anxiousindividuals their
attention
to inappropriate therangeof cues,allowing
cues or are incapableof restricting
competingthoughts withperformance
to interfere (Calvoet al. 1997;Eysencket al. 1987;
Mathews etal. 2000).Therefore, anxiety consumes a portionoftheprocessing capacitythat
wouldbe neededfortaskperformance (Hopko et al. 1998; Müsch and Bröder 1999;
SchwarzerandJerusalem 1992).

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486 D. Macher
etal.

Researchhasdocumented a negative relationship between statistics

anxietyandacademic
performance.Statistics anxiety was a goodpredictor of academicachievement in statistics
coursesas wellas inresearch methodology courses etal. 1996;Onwuegbuzie
(Fitzgerald 2000,
2003; Onwuegbuzie and Seaman1995; Williamson and Mattiske 2002; Zeidner1991).
Following thecognitive interference approach, Onwuegbuzie (2000,2003) assumesa direct
causallinkbetween statistics
anxiety and academic performance.
However, sincegeneraltraitanxiety andstatistics anxietyarecorrelated, it is notclear
whether morespecific parts(represented by statisticsanxiety)or the generalaspects oftrait
anxietymay predominantly accountfor the relationships betweentraitanxietyand
performance.In ordertobe ableto examinethis,traitanxiety (i.e.,thegeneraldisposition
toexperience anxiety in stressfulsituations)is includedinthepresent study,in addition to
thespecificformofanxiety (i.e.,statistics
anxiety, whichalso includessubject-specific test
anxiety).By recording traitanxiety, statisticsanxiety,and academicperformance in one
study,the extent of overlap and independence of the contributions of traitanxietyand
statistics to
anxiety performance can be quantified.

Statistics traitanxiety,
anxiety, andlearning
processes

Cognitiveinterference causedby traitanxietycan alreadyoccurduringencodingand

storageefforts in examination preparation periodsand thus lead to less solid and
differentiated
knowledge. Anxiety has beenlinkedto theapplication ofcognitive learning
strategiesand the investment of individual resources such as attention, effort,or time
(Cassady and Johnson 2002; Mathews et al. 2000). Benjamin et al. (1981) found that
anxiousstudents appeared to be ineffectivelearners who did not use adequatecognitive
learningstrategiesforachievement. Theyarealsolesspersistent atdifficult tasksandinvest
lesseffortandtimein learning (HillandWigfield 1984;Pintrich andDeGroot1990).
To date,however, thereis verylimited empirical evidenceon therelationship between
statistics
anxiety andlearning strategies.Onwuegbuzie (2003) investigated therelationship
betweenstatistics anxietyand studyhabits.Assessments includeda broadrangeof
desirableand undesirable studyhabitsand relatedbehavior,such as attending classes
regularly, a or
using laptopcomputer, consuming alcoholic beverages. Desirable study
habitswererelatedto lowerstatistics anxiety.However,due to theinclusionof very
different
aspectsof studybehaviors, theresults haveonlylimited valueforexplaining the
between
relationship statistics
anxiety and learning.
Moreresearch has beencarriedouton therelationship betweenstatistics anxiety, trait
anxiety,andprocrastination. Procrastination is definedas an irrational tendencyto delay
tasksthatshouldbe completed (Flettet al. 1992). Students who procrastinate lack the
abilityto regulatetheirown environment to structure learning(DeRoma et al. 2003;
Tuckman 1998).Procrastination was foundtobe related tostateandtrait anxiety(Haycock
etal. 1998)andto statistics anxiety (Onwuegbuzie 2004; Rodarte-Luna andSherry 2008).
Some empirical evidencepointsat negativecorrelations betweenprocrastination and the
use of deep-levelcognitive strategies and meta-cognitive strategies (Howelland Watson
2007; Wolters 2003).
Previousresearch has mainlyfocusedon therelationship betweengeneralanxiety, test
anxiety,and learningprocesses.Littleis knownaboutthe impactof subject-specific
anxietiessuchas statistics anxietyon relevant learningprocesses.Studiesin whichtrait
anxiety,statistics and
anxiety, learning processes were recorded in thesamesampleare
lacking.Therefore, itis notclearyet to which degree statistics
anxiety mayhavea genuine
influenceon planning andorganizing learning.

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Statistics trait
anxiety, andlearning
anxiety, behavior 487

Learning andacademicperformance
processes

Cognitivelearning themanagement
strategies, ofindividual andprocrastination
resources, may
influenceacademic achievement.Students whopreferred learning
deep-level strategiessuchas
relatingthelearning materialwiththerealworldweremoresuccessful in statisticscourses
etal.
(Schutz 1998) andinonline mathematics courses etal.
(Wadsworth 2007). Diseth (2003)
found higher academicachievement in studentswhouse a deep-level approach forlearning
butemphasizes thatdeep-levellearning areonlyefficient
strategies whentheexaminations in
a subjectdemand torelatedifferentideasto eachother, to elaboratelearning material, or to
findcritical
aspectsin ideas.Surface-level areefficient
strategies whenexaminations merely
demand thereproduction ofideasandarguments.
In severalstudies, higherlevelsof procrastination werefoundto be relatedto lower
academic achievement. CassadyandJohnson (2002) arguethatprocrastination onlyleadsto
lowerperformance ifstudentscannotapplyrecovery as
(such "cramming
strategies forthe
exams"). Possible effects
debilitating of procrastination be
may explained by less efficient
in themanagement
strategies of effort andtimebecauseprocrastination is linkedwithless
timeavailableforlearning, less concentrationon taskperformance, andlowerself-efficacy
(Akinsola etal. 2007;DeRomaetal. 2003).

Present
investigation

Inthepresent investigation, therelationship between antecedents ofstatistics

anxiety, statistics
anxiety,learning processes, and academic performance is For
investigated. the investigation, a
working model was developed which assumes thefollowing relationships:
Statistics
anxietyand its relationto individualcharacteristics: It was assumedthat
gender, mathematical self-concept, interestin statistics,and traitanxietyare relatedto
statisticsanxiety. Femalestudents shouldreporthigherlevelsof statistics anxietythan
males.Self-concept in mathematics shouldbe relatednegatively to statisticsanxiety. Trait
anxietyand statistics anxietyare likelyto be relatedpositively to each other,whereas
interestin statisticsandstatistics anxiety arelikelyto be relatednegatively to eachother.
Relationship of statistics anxiety and trait with
anxiety learning behavior: It is assumed
thatstatisticsanxiety and traitanxiety arerelatednegatively tothe application ofdeep-level
learning strategiesand the investment ofindividualresources and that statisticsanxiety and
traitanxiety arerelated to
positively procrastination.
Relationship betweenlearning behaviorandacademicperformance: It is assumedthat
the investment of individual resources(e.g., effort) and the application of deep-level
learningstrategies are relatedpositivelyto academicperformance. Withregardto
procrastination, a mediation effect is assumed.Higherdegreesof procrastination should
be related to a lessfrequent application ofresource anddeep-level learning strategies and
thusdecreasesinperformance.
Relationship of statistics anxiety, traitanxiety, and othervariableswithacademic
performance: Statistics anxiety and traitanxiety areassumed tohavean indirect as wellas a
direct relationshipwithperformance. Statistics
anxiety as wellas traitanxiety is expected to
be relatednegatively to academicperformance. Besideswhich,statistics anxiety andtrait
anxiety shouldhavean indirect influence on performance becauseanxiousstudents might
be morepronetoprocrastination andapplyefficient strategies lessoften.Statistics anxiety
is alsoassumedtobe a mediator fortherelationship between mathematical self-concept and
performance, interests and performance, and trait and
anxiety performance. Confidence in
mathematics may influence learning effortand performance during the exam. Hence, a

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488 D. Machcr
etal.

betweenmathematical
directpositiverelationship andacademicperformance
self-concept
is assumed.In accordancewithpreviousresearch,
in statistics a positiverelationship
between interest,
deep-level
learning andacademicperformance
strategies, is assumed.

Method

Participants

were 147 undergraduate

Participants studentsenrolledin Psychology(n= 143) or other
studiesinsocialsciences(«=4) atKarl-Franzens-University
Graz,Austria.Inthestudy,112
femalestudents (76.19%) and 35 male students (23.81%) tookpart.The age of the
rangedfrom18 to 45 years(M= 20.80,SD=3.63).
participants
All participants
wereenrolled inan introductory
statistics
lecture-based
courseofferedfor
psychology undergraduates.The lecturelastedone term (17 weeks)and ended with an
examinationin thelastcourseweek.Questionnaire datawererecorded 1 weekpriorto the
examination. thestudents'
Additionally, scoreswererecorded.
examination inthe
Participation
researchwasvoluntary. gavetheir
Participants consentthattheir
datawereusedinanempirical
study.

Measures

Statisticsanxiety was measured usingthreesubscalesof theSTARS (CruiseandWilkins

1980; Cruise et al. 1985). The three subscalesrelatedto anxiety(testand class anxiety,
interpretationanxiety, and fearof askingforhelp)consistof23 self-report itemsthatrequire
participantsto describe on a five-point scaleranging from"no anxiety" (1) to "verymuch
anxiety" (5) how theyfeelin specificsituations suchas attending a statisticsclass or a
statistics
examination. Examplesforthesesituations are"walkingintotheroomto takea
statistics
test"(testandclassanxiety) or"trying to decidewhichanalysisis appropriate for
myresearch project"(interpretation anxiety). The totalscoreof eachscalewas calculated
bythemeanofanswers ontherespective items.Thescalesshowhighinternal consistencies
in thepresent sample(Cronbach's aTEsT=-85,aINTER=.90, As
aAsK=-85). suggested by
Papoušeketal. (2011),a compound scoreofstatisticsanxietywasusedcombining thethree
subscalesrelatedto anxiety in onemeasure.
Traitanxiety wasmeasured bytheState-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI,German version;
Lauxetal. 1981).The traitanxiety scaleconsists of20 items.Participants areinstructed to
indicatehow theygenerally feelby describing how oftentheyexperience anxiety-related
feelingsand cognitions on a four-point scaleranging from"almostnever"(1) to "almost
always"(4) (itemexample: "I havedisturbing thoughts").Higherscalevaluesindicate higher
levelsoftraitanxiety. The totalscore was calculatedby themean of answers onallitems. The
scaleshowshighinternal consistency in this a
sample(Cronbach's=.93).
Theapplication oflearning strategies wasmeasured bythequestionnaire "Lernstrategien
imStudium" (learning strategiesinacademicstudies; Wild2000),a German adaptation ofa
selectionof Motivated Strategies forLearning Questionnairescales(Pintrich et al. 1991).
Measurement focusedon theapplication ofdeep-level learningstrategies(22 items)andon
themanagement ofindividual resources (personalresource management strategies,22 items;
Wild2000). Students wereaskedto indicate Likertscaleranging
on five-point from"very
seldom"(1) to"veryoften" (5) howoften theyapplyspecific strategiesforlearning fortheir
statistics
course.

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Statistics trait
anxiety, andlearning
anxiety, behavior 489

Threedeep-level learning strategiesweremeasured: organization ofthelearning material

(exampleitem:"I go overmynotesandcreatean outline withthemostimportant points"),
elaboration (e.g.,"I tryto findlinksbetween newconcepts ortheories andthoseI already
know"),andcritical thinking (e.g.,"I developmyownideas,basedon thestudymaterials I
am actuallyworkingon"). The individualinternal consistencies forthesescales are
reasonable (a0RG=-75)tohigh(aELB=.84,Qcrt=.84). The compound scaleofdeep-level
strategiesshows high internal consistency (aDEEP=.87). In the the
study, compound scale
was used.The scoreforthisscale was calculated by themean of answers on all items.
Personal resource strategiesinclude theinvestment ofeffort andtime, theorganization ofone's
learningenvironment, theconcentration andattention devoted tolearning (e.g.,"I study as long
as I needtomakesureI canachievea goodgradeintheexam").Internal consistencies forthese
scales are reasonableto high (aEFF=-72, aTM=.88, aENV=.83, qatt=.95). The
compound scale of personalresourcestrategies also showsa highinternal consistency
(aRES=-90).
Academicprocrastination was measuredby the Procrastination Assessment Scale-
Students (O'Callaghan et al. 2009; Solomon and Rothblum 1984).Participants indicate the
degreeto whichtheyprocrastinated on academictasksin theirstatistics coursesuch
as studying forthe exam or keepingup withassignments, etc. (ratingfrom"never
procrastinate" (1) to "alwaysprocrastinate" (5)) and the degreeto whichprocrasti-
nationon a taskis a problemforthem(ratingfrom"not at all a problem"(1) to
"alwaysa problem"(5)). The totalscorewas calculatedby themeanof answerson
the eight items.This scale shows moderateinternalconsistencyin this sample
(Cronbach'sa=.72).
Academicself-concept in mathematics (Marsh 1990) was measuredby two items
adaptedfromtheProgram forInternational StudentAssessment (PISA) studies(Ramm
etal. 2003).Students assessedon a seven-point Likertscaleranging from "verypoorly"(1)
to"very well"(7) howgoodtheyareinmathematics andhowwelltheyperformed inprevious
mathematics courses. As thosetwoitems wereveryconsistent (Cronbach's a=.88), their mean
wasusedas a totalscore.
Interestin statistics was measured bythreeitemsemployed in thePISA studies(OECD
2009)covering joy and intrinsic value of working on statistics
tasks. Participants described
theirinterestin statisticson a five-point Likertscaleranging fromstrongly disagree (1) to
strongly (5)
agree (example item: "I find the things we learn in statisticsinteresting"). The
itemsshowhighinternal consistency (Cronbach's a=.84); thus,theresulting meanwasused
as a totalscore.
Academic performance was measured bythenumber ofpointsachievedin thestatistics
examination. All students participating in thestudyattended an examination at theendof
term.The 11 examination questionsrequired variouscognitive operations ranging from
of via
reproductionknowledge, application knowledge of (e.g.,calculating a statisticaltest),
tounderstanding andanalyzing information (Anderson andKrathwohl 2001).Theanswers
to thequestionsof thefinalexamwerescoreddichotomously and analyzedusingthe
software Conquest 2.0 (Wuetal. 2007).Theanalysisshowsthattheassumption ofa Rasch
modelholds:all theitems'weighted meansquarevalueswerewithintheboundaries of
WMNSQ=0.75andWMNSQ=1.33suggested byAdamsandKhoo(as citedinWilson2005)
as valuesforat leastreasonable fit(WMNSQmin=0.89, WMNSQmax=1.13), and noneof
themshoweda significant weightedt value thusindicating no statistically significant
deviation from theidealvalueofWMNSQ=1.00(weighted imin=-1.2, weighted tmax= 1.3).
Therefore, thetotalscorecan be considered a sufficientstatistic
to describethestudents'
performance intheexam.

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490 D. Macher
etal.

Results

Table 1 displaysthedescriptive statistics

forthedistribution of variablesin thesample
(overallmeanandmeansforfemaleandmalestudents). Bivariate correlations between the
investigated variablesarepresented in Table 2.
Structural equationmodelingtechniques wereused to testrelationships betweenthe
variables in a multivariate
context. ThedatawereanalyzedwithMplus5.21 (Muthen and
Muthen 2009)usinga maximum likelihoodestimator. Thegoodnessoffitofthedatatothe
hypothesized modelwas assessedusingthefollowing indices:x2»comparative fitindex
(CFI), rootmeansquareerrorof approximation (RMSEA), and standardized rootmean
squareresidual(SRMR).
Themodelshowsthatfourvariables arerelated tostatisticsanxiety (Fig. 1): Participants
withhigher levelsoftraitanxiety reporthigher levelsofstatistics anxiety(ß=A2). Female
students report higherlevelsof statistics
anxiety (ß=-.32). Mathematical self-concept and
interestin statistics
arebothnegatively relatedto statisticsanxiety (ß'=-.22 , ß2=~.3').
Bothtraitanxiety andstatistics anxiety arepositively relatedto procrastination (higher
levelsof anxietyindicatea higherlevelof procrastination; ßi = .24, ß2=.21). Thereis a

Table1 Descriptive ofthevariables

statistics inthepresent
study
statistics
Descriptive
M SD Min Max N
Trait
anxiety 2.04 0.52 1.15 3.50 147
Female 2.09 0.54 1.15 3.50 112
Male 1.89 0.39 1.15 2.80 35
Statistics
anxiety 2.13 0.64 1.09 4.87 147
Female 2.25 0.64 1.09 4.87 112
Male 1.74 0.47 1.09 3.26 35
Deep-level
strategies 3.53 0.64 1.36 5.00 147
Female 3.55 0.63 1.36 5.00 112
Male 3.47 0.70 1.56 4.64 35
Resourcestrategies 3.92 0.76 2.01 5.88 147
Female 4.03 0.75 2.01 5.88 112
Male 3.60 0.71 2.04 5.20 35
Procrastination 2.75 0.59 1.00 4.25 147
Female 2.67 0.60 1.00 4.25 112
Male 3.00 0.52 1.50 4.00 35
mathematics
Self-concept 4.63 1.37 1.00 7.00 147
Female 4.68 1.43 1.00 7.00 112
Male 4.46 1.18 2.00 6.50 35
inmathematics
Interest 3.20 0.88 1.00 5.00 147
Female 3.20 0.91 1.00 5.00 112
Male 3.17 0.80 1.00 4.67 35
Academicperformance 7.17 2.59 .00 11.00 147
Female 7.13 2.58 1.00 11.00 112
Male 7.29 2.65 .00 11.00 35

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Statistics trait
anxiety, andlearning
anxiety, behavior 491

Table2 Bivariatc between

correlations thevariables inthepresent
investigated study
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Trait
anxiety
(1) .541** -.068 -.089 .331** -.129 -.238** .011
Statistics
anxiety(2) -.026 -.005 .261** -.246** -.403** -.211*
strategies
Deep-level (3) .292** -.208* -.054 .261** .053
Resource (4)
strategies -.425** .125 .163* .200*
Procrastination
(5) -.292** -.197* -.168
mathematics
Self-concept (6) .212* .284**
inmathematics
Interest (7) .339**
Academicperformance (8)
*p<.05;**/?<.01

weak but significant relationship betweenstatistics anxietyand theuse of deep-level

learning strategies (higher levelsofstatisticsanxietyindicatea morefrequent applicationof
deep-level learning ß= .17). Andthereis a moderate
strategies; between
relationship interest
andtheapplication ofdeep-level learning (ß'=30).
strategies
As expected, higherlevelsofprocrastination arerelatedto less frequentapplicationof
personal resource management strategies(ß=-A3) and tolessfrequent of
application deep-
levellearning strategies(ß=-.20). Malestudents showedhigher valuesthan
procrastination
femalestudents (ß=.31).
Five variables influence academicperformance: Mathematical (ß=A6) and
self-concept
interestinstatistics(ß-.2') havea positive influenceonexamination performance.Ontheside
of theanxiety variables, statistics
anxiety contributes
negatively to performance (/3=
-.30).
Contrary to initial
expectations,trait anxietyis related
positivelytoperformance (ß=.27). Of
thethree learning-relatedbehaviors measured, onlythefrequency oftheapplicationofpersonal
resource management strategiescontributes to
positively performance (ß=A6). Contrary to
initialexpectations, no significant relationshipbetweendeep-level learning and
strategies
examination performance was found.

Fig.1 Model oftherelationship antecedents

between ofstatistics trait
anxiety, andstatistics
anxiety,
learning
andacademic
behaviors, maths
performance, scmathematics interest
self-concept, instatistics,
interest trait
atix
trait statanxstatistics
anxiety, anxiety, resource
resstrat strategies,
procrast deepstrat
procrastination, deep-
levellearning
strategies,
perform intheexamination
performance

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492 etal.
D. Macher

bythesoftware
fitindicesprovided
TheX2testanddescriptive suggestall inall a goodfit
ofthemodel(x2=42.966,¿/=30,/)=. CFI=.97; RMSEA=.05;SRMR=.05).
059;x2/#=1.43;
Generally, 2, CFI>.95, RMSEA<.05,and SRMR<.05 are considered
valuesof y?/df< as
of goodmodelfit.Valuesof
indicators RMSEA<.08 areconsideredas indicators of an "at
etal. 2003).
modelfit(Kaplan2009;Schermelleh-Engel
leastacceptable"

Discussion

ofstatistics
Antecedents anxiety

Thestructural
equation modelshowsthatstatistics anxietyisrelatedtostudents'self-conceptin
mathematics,
gender, in
intereststatistics,and trait As
anxiety. expected, studentswith a higher
mathematicalself-concept reported lowerlevelsof statistics anxietyand showedhigher
achievementin theexamination. Femalestudents reportedhigher levelsofstatisticsanxiety
thanmales(similar toRodarte-Luna andSherry 2008).Females and males,however, didnot
withregard
differ toacademic performance (MF=6.64, Mm=6.89, T=- 0.302, df='45,p=.16;
compareTable1). Itseemsthatadverseeffects ofhigher statistics
anxietyareoutweighed by
a moreefficientlearning behavioroffemalestudents, i.e.,lessprocrastination.
Students withhigherinterest wereless proneto statistics
in statistics anxiety.Students'
andintrinsic
motivation valuetolearnisanimportant component tobeconsidered inlearningand
because
instruction interest
doesnot only leadtohighergrades on academic assignmentsbut also
tomorecognitive engagement andmorefrequent applicationofdesirablelearningstrategies.
Traitanxietywas the strongest predictor of statisticsanxiety(17.64% of shared
Traitanxiety
variance). seemsto foster thedevelopment of statistics
anxiety,butthetwo
have
concepts a shared as wellas an unshared component.

Statistics
anxiety, andlearning
traitanxiety, processes

In thestructuralequationmodel,traitanxiety butnotto the

was relatedto procrastination
use of deep-levellearning and
strategies personal resource management The
strategies.
same appliesto statistics anxiety(except of a weak to
relation deep-levelstrategies).
Researchon procrastination and self-efficacymayexplainthisresult.Individuals with
increasedanxietymayexperience low levelsof self-efficacyand highfearof failurein
potentiallythreatening situations(Haycocket al. 1998; Rodarte-Luna and Sherry 2008;
Wolters2003). Consequently, theytendto avoid certaintasksand situations such as
examinationsand postponetakingassignmentsor preparingfor an examination
(Onwuegbuzie 2004).In thestructural equationmodel,procrastination hadonlyan indirect
influenceon performance (compare also Wolters2003): Studentswho tend toprocrastinate
tasksexperience
on learning-related in and
problems self-regulation spend time
insufficient
preparingfor an examination. Consequently,they show a loweracademic performance.
Contrary to initialassumptions, therewas a positive(yetweak)relationship between
statistics
anxiety and the use ofdeep-levellearning However,
strategies. adverse of
effects
statistics
anxiety on procrastination seemto outweigh thispositivecontribution.

on academicperformance
Sourcesofinfluence

to performance
equationmodel,fivevariablescontributed
In thestructural in thestatistics
examination: mathematical
interest, self-concept,andthe of
application personalresource

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Statistics trait
anxiety, andlearning
anxiety, behavior 493

management strategies contributed positivelyto performance. Of the threelearning

behaviorvariables,only the applicationof personalresourcemanagement strategies
showeda significant relationship to performance. Thisresultemphasizes theroleof self-
regulatorystrategies:without theconcomitant useofpersonal resources, theuseofdeep-level
remains
strategies ineffectiveforlearning and achievement.
Statistics
anxiety was relatednegatively to performance whiletraitanxiety was related
The
positively. bivariate
correlation between trait and
anxiety performance was not significant
(compare Table2). Traitanxiety as itwasmeasured inthestudyseemstobe a heterogeneous
constructwhichincludescomponents thatcorrelate positivelywithperformance as wellas
components thatcorrelate negatively withperformance (Steyer etal. 1990).Statistics
anxiety
seemstosuppress thevariance ofthelatter component so thatinthestructuralequation model
trait
anxiety related
is positively toperformance. Thepartoftrait anxiety thatwasunrelated to
thespecificpartofstatisticsanxiety correlatedpositivelywithperformance. Thisresult canbe
explainedbythetwocomponents oftheanxiety construct andtheSTAImeasurements: The
cognitive interference of
component anxiety is associated with declines in performance
becauseindividuals turntheir attention toinappropriate cuesorallowcompeting thoughts to
withperformance
interfere (Cassady and Johnson 2002; Hembree 1988). The emotional
component of anxietymanifests itselfthrough physiological arousalexperienced during
evaluativesituations.In an evaluative situation,a moderate levelofarousalis desirable. Too
mucharousalmayprevent efficient processing of thetaskat handbecausephysiological
aresalient.
distractions Toolittle arousalalsohasa negative impact becauseanindividual fails
torecognize theexamination as challenging (Cassadyand Johnson 2002;Keeley et al. 2008;
Morriset al. 1981; Steyeret al. 1990).In thereported study,theparticipants mayhave
experienced a lowerlevelof cognitive testanxiety buta conducive levelof emotionality
whichmayhavebeenadvantageous intheacademicexamination situation.

Theroleofstatistics
anxiety equationmodel
in thestructural

Statistics
anxiety receivesa crucialrolein thestructural equation modelandis thestrongest
directpredictor of performance. Moreover, statistics-anxiousstudents showdysfunctional
learning behaviors.Statistics-anxious students seem to delay learning;theyshow less
concentration and effort
and consequently achieve less in theexamination. Even though
statistics is
anxiety weakly relatedtodesirable deep-level learning without
strategies, sufficient
concentration,
effort, and time on these
spent learning, strategies remain ineffective.
Statistics
anxiety also mediates therelationship betweenmathematical self-conceptand
performance. Students may tend to generalize their mathematical self-conceptto the
exam,andtheir
statistics confidence mayinfluence learning effortsandperformance during
theexamination. Alternatively,poormathematics performance at schoolandthusa lower
mathematical self-concept(MarshandYeung1997)may indicate a lackof mathematical
and reasoning skillsthat are also for
important good performance exams.
in statistics
Besidesthe mathematical self-concept, interestmay also explainpart of the negative
relationshipbetweenstatistics anxietyand performance. However,themoderate to weak
relationshipsbetween these concepts and statistics
anxiety suggest that difficulties
students'
areto a considerable
in statistics extent dueto statistics-related anxiety.

forinstruction
Implications

of thereported
The results studydo notonlyexplainmoreof how anxietyis relatedto
performancebutarealso forinstruction.
important anxiousstudents
Theyadvisetosupport

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
494 D. Macher
etal.

notonlyin theexamination but alreadypriorto theexamination. In theexamination,

students mayprofitfromanxiety-reducing measuressuchas providing enoughtimeor
usinghumorous examination tasks(Onwuegbuzie and Seaman1995; Onwuegbuzie and
Wilson2003). Priorto theexamination, instructors shouldsupport students in avoiding
forinstance,
procrastination, byregularly providing opportunities forexercise andreflection
of learningcontent orby setting up several smaller tests and assignments instead of only
one extensive testor assignment (Tuckman1998). Thus, possiblepositive effectsof trait
anxietyon academicachievement in examination situations couldbe utilized.
Instructors
areadvisedtostimulate students'interest in statistics,
perhaps byemphasizing
theimportance ofstatistics
forthestudents'latervocation andfordailylife.Bysuchmeasures,
studentswillbe better
prepared fortheexamination andexperience lessstatistics
anxiety.
The resultsalso emphasizetheimportance of students' mathematical self-concept for
statistics
anxiety.Forinstructors,theyadviseto foster thedevelopment of a positiveand
realistic
self-conceptin statistics,
e.g.,by providing opportunities forstudents to exercise
theirskillsand to receiveadequatefeedback.One, however, has to keep in mindthat
improvements in students'self-conceptwillbe short-lived without enhancing knowledge
acquisitionand improving achievement. Hence, instructors shouldstriveto improve
simultaneously bothacademicself-concept andachievement.

Limitations
ofthestudyandfuture
directions

For the study,partlya cross-sectional designwas chosen.The cross-sectional design

encompasses the measurement of students' andlearning
attitudes,
dispositions, behaviors
(all recordedat one pointin time).Examination resultswererecorded1 weekafterthe
initialdatacollection.Due to thecorrelational natureofthedata,itis notpossibleto draw
causal conclusions forall of theobservedvariables.In cross-sectional designs,causal
inferencesmayonlybe madeifa variableis fixedatsomepointpriortothevariation inthe
dependent variable.In theeducational context in whichthestudytookplace,it was not
possibleto measurestudents'attitudes and dispositionsat severalpointsin time.All
participantswerestudents intheirfirst term.Therefore, inordertoobtainsolidmeasures of
statistics
anxiety,itwas necessary torecordthedataattheendoftermandtogivestudents
thechancetogather experiences in theirstatistics
course.
Despite these limitations,the results from the presentstudyprovideinsight intothe
relationshipbetweenstudents' attitudes,dispositions,
learningbehaviors,performance, and
statistics
anxiety.Moreresearch is, however, neededon therelationship between statistics
anxiety andlearning Itmaywellbethatstudents'
strategies. ofstatistics
experience anxiety leads
toa work-avoiding learningapproach andtoa lessfrequent useofefficient
learningstrategies.
Thenagain,procrastinating learning beforean examination maylead to theexperience of
statistics To determine
anxiety. howtheseconcepts arerelatedto eachother,a longitudinal
approach wouldbe useful bywhichstudents canbe observed overa longer
periodoftime.

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DanielMacher. ofPsychology,
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University Austria.
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Learning media.
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publications field ofEducation'.
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ManuelaPaechter. of Psychology,
Department of Graz,Graz,Austria.
University E-mail:
mañuela.
Website:http://paedpsy.uni-graz.at/
paechter@uni-graz.at;
Current
themes
ofresearch
:

with
Learning media.
digital ofinstruction.
Quality Statistics
anxiety.
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publications :
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Paechter, B.(2010).
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54{1),222-229.

Springer

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498 D. Macher
etal.

Jones, G.,Yen,C.-F.,
M.,Gardner,
M.G.,Paechter, Taylor, T.(inpress).
A.& Tretter, Teachers' of
concepts
scale:Anintercultural
spatial International
comparison. ofScience
Journal Education.

IlonaPapoušek.
Departmentof Psychology,
University E-mail:ilona.
of Graz,Graz,Austria.
Website:http://www.uni-graz.at/biologicalpsychology/
papousek@uni-graz.at;
themes
Current :
ofresearch
Neuroscienti studies
ficandpsychophysiological traits
ofemotional andstates.
Statistics
anxiety.
Mostrelevant inthe
publications fieldofPsychology :
ofEducation
K.,Paechter,
I.,Nauschnegg,
Papoušek, H.K.,Goswami,
M.,Lackner, N.,& Schulter,G. (2010).Trait
andstate affect
positive andcardiovascular from
recovery academic
experimental stress.
Biological
83.108-115.
Psychology,
K.,Macher,
I.,Ruggeri,
Papoušek, M.,Heene,
D.,Paechter, E.M.,etal.(2012).Psychometric
M.,Weiss,
andexperimental
evaluation oftheStatistics
validation AnxietyRatingScale.Journal
ofPersonality
Assessment
(inpress).
K.,Diaz,C.,Kelley,
Ruggeri, M.,& Hanna,
I.,Dempster,
K.,Papoušek, D. (2008).International
issuesin
education.
PsychologyTeachingReview,75,94-104.
of Cambridge,
of PublicHealth,University
Kai Ruggeri.Institute UK. E-mail:
Cambridge,
Website:http://www.clahrc-cp.nihr.ac.uk/
dar56@medschl.cam.ac.uk;
Current ofresearch
themes :
Evidence-based inpublic
policy mental
health, andhealth
health Evaluation
economics. ofe-learning
inhealth.
programmes
Mostrelevant inthefieldofPsychology
publications :
ofEducation
K.,Macher,
I.,Ruggeri,
Papoušek, D.,Paechter,M.,Heene, E.M.,etal.(2012).Psychometric
M.,Weiss,
evaluation
andexperimental oftheStatistics
validation Anxiety
RatingScale.JournalofPersonality
Assessment(inpress).
K.,deAzevedo,
Ruggeri, E.,Joyce,
F.,Bechard-Torres, C.,Jurkevičiute, b.,McDermott,
I.,Knight, h.,
Naber, M., & Župan,
B., Piest,J.,Vainre, Z. (2011).Divided
Education: Analysingsystemic
inBosnian
segregation schools.
JournalofEastEuropean andAsianStudies,2(1),49-65.
K.,Dempster,
Ruggeri, M.,& Hanna,D. (2011).Theimpact thenature
ofmisunderstanding ofstatistics.
PsychologyTeaching /7(1),35-40.
Review,

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