Math anxiety and perfectionistic concerns in multiple-choice assessment

Abstract

We examined the relationships between math anxiety, perfectionism and academic achievement in undergraduates enrolled in a course with high mathematical content. Participants were 251 students who completed math anxiety and perfectionism questionnaires, and whose academic achievement was measured via a multiple-choice examination. The number of hits, errors and unanswered questions on this examination were analyzed to explore the possible influence of math anxiety and perfectionism on students’ performance. Results showed that highly math-anxious (HMA) students were more perfectionist than their low math-anxious (LMA) peers, insofar as they were more concerned about making mistakes and had more doubts about their own actions. The HMA group also obtained worse grades than did their LMA counterparts, although this was because they left more questions unanswered, not because they made more mistakes. Analysis of the relationship between math anxiety and the number of unanswered questions revealed that concern over errors and doubts about actions played a mediating role in this relationship. In conclusion, HMA students’ fear of making mistakes and doubts about their own actions are important factors influencing their performance in multiple-choice tests.

Keywords:

• Math anxiety
• perfectionism
• multiple-choice examinations
• academic performance
• higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Consolidated Group for Innovation in Teaching GINDOC-UB/099 at the University of Barcelona and by grants 2017PID-UB/01 from the University of Barcelona and PSI2015-69915-R (MINECO/FEDER) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund.

Notes on contributors

María Isabel Núñez-Peña

María Isabel Núñez-Peña, PhD (Psychology) is a professor at the University of Barcelona, where she leads a team of researchers investigating the neural bases of number processing. Her work has predominantly focused on understanding the differences in cognitive processing between high and low math-anxious individuals to guide the design of possible interventions for reducing the negative impact of math anxiety on performance. She is the principal investigator in several competitive projects and has also coordinated teaching innovation projects that aim to gain a fuller understanding of the role that anxiety plays in relation to academic achievement.

Roser Bono

Roser Bono, PhD (Psychology) is a professor in the Quantitative Psychology Unit at the University of Barcelona, where she teaches courses on research design. Her main line of research concerns the use of Monte Carlo simulation to study techniques for analyzing longitudinal data in the health and social sciences. She has participated in several competitive projects as principal investigator, and has also coordinated numerous teaching innovation projects and a consolidated group working on ways of improving the teaching of designs and techniques in psychological research.