Poster #50 - The undoing effects of positive emotions on math anxiety

• In Event: Poster Session 09

Abstract

Despite the widespread assumption that math anxiety is related to weak math performance, many studies have questioned whether this is true under all circumstances (Orbach & Fritz, 2022). Clarifying the conditions under which this relationship exists is essential in order to improve interventions with the aim of reducing math anxiety consequences on performance (Chang & Beilock, 2016). Fredrickson's (1998) broaden-and-build theory predicts that positive emotions have an undoing effect on negative emotions. Positive emotions can relieve negative emotional arousal through accelerating cardiovascular recovery. This facilitates cognitive functioning by broadening the scope of attention, cognition, and action in the mind, and fueling psychological resilience to embrace the challenge. Based on this theory, we therefore hypothesized that positive emotions about math – specifically math interest and math confidence – will mitigate the negative relation between math anxiety and performance.
Participants were 194 students (half girls and half boys) recruited from two elementary schools in the Southeast US. Thirty-six percent were in first grade, 23% in second grade, 30% in third grade, and 12% in fourth grade. Math performance was measured by 15 items adapted from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Math anxiety was measured with the 13-item Math Anxiety Scale for Young Children Revised (MASYC-R; Ganley & McGraw, 2016). Math interest and math confidence were each measured using five questions adapted from Fredricks and Eccles (2002).
We performed a hierarchical regression analysis controlling for grade level with doing dummy coding in which grade 1 was the reference group (Table 1). Grades 2, 3 and 4 were significant predictors in all models. In Model 1, math anxiety negatively predicted math performance (=-0.31, p<.0001). Model 2 showed a significant interaction between math anxiety and interest. Simple slopes at 1 standard deviation above and below the mean of interest (Figure 1) and it showed for students with high math interest, the relation between math anxiety and math performance was not significant (b=0.06, SEb=0.12, p=.64) and for students with low math interest, this relation was negative (b=-0.28, SEb=0.09, p<.0001). Model 3 showed no significant interaction between math anxiety and confidence, but that math confidence (=0.41, p<.0001) and not math anxiety ( =-0.002, p=.97) related to math performance. In Model 4, when we add both interactions at the same time, none of the above relations were significant except that math confidence positively predicted math performance (=0.41, p<.0001).
Results support the hypothesis that having more positive emotions related to math interest can relieve the negative link between math anxiety and math performance, but only when math confidence is not considered. Thus, boosting math interest could be tested as part of interventions aimed at reducing math anxiety. The findings did not support the hypothesis that math confidence would mitigate the effects of math anxiety. However, we did find that when considered with math interest and anxiety and the interactions, math confidence was the only significant predictor of math performance, suggesting it plays an important role in math performance on its own.

Authors

• Zahra Maghami Sharif, Florida State University
  Presenting Author

• Colleen M Ganley, Florida State Univeristy