The Relationship Between Affective Variables and Mathematics Education: A Longitudinal Study

• In Event: Quantitative and Mixed-Method Studies in Mathematics Education

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify the longitudinal relationship between mathematics anxiety, mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics interest, and mathematics performance. Participants were 3855 fourth-grade students in western China, and they repeated the test two years later which followed 2789 sixth-grade students. The results revealed that mathematics anxiety, self-efficacy, interest, and mathematics performance was stable over time. There is a reciprocal relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance, as is mathematics self-efficacy. Previous mathematics anxiety, self-efficacy, and mathematics performance can predict later mathematics interest. There is also a reciprocal relationship between mathematical anxiety and mathematical self-efficacy. The results suggest that it may be desirable to help students reduce mathematics anxiety and maintain mathematics self-efficacy and interest levels.

Authors

• Changhong Du, Beijing Normal University

• Wang Yehui, Beijing Normal University