Cited by 225Education, Achievement, and GiftednessCognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skillsMathematics Education and Pedagogy

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 41 of the 41 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 34 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Is Math Anxiety Always Bad for Math Learning? The Role of Math Motivation

Open access

Abstract

The linear relations between math anxiety and math cognition have been frequently studied. However, the relations between anxiety and performance on complex cognitive tasks have been repeatedly demonstrated to follow a curvilinear fashion. In the current studies, we aimed to address the lack of attention given to the possibility of such complex interplay between emotion and cognition in the math-learning literature by exploring the relations among math anxiety, math motivation, and math cognition. In two samples—young adolescent twins and adult college students—results showed inverted-U relations between math anxiety and math performance in participants with high intrinsic math motivation and modest negative associations between math anxiety and math performance in participants with low intrinsic math motivation. However, this pattern was not observed in tasks assessing participants’ nonsymbolic and symbolic number-estimation ability. These findings may help advance the understanding of mathematics-learning processes and provide important insights for treatment programs that target improving mathematics-learning experiences and mathematical skills.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

In two samples (262 adolescent twin pairs and 237 college students), math anxiety related to math performance differently depending on intrinsic math motivation: high motivation showed an inverted-U relation, while low motivation showed modest negative linear associations. This pattern held for computation/problem tasks but not for symbolic or nonsymbolic number estimation.

Key findings

  • In both samples, students with high intrinsic math motivation showed an inverted-U relation between math anxiety and math performance, peaking at intermediate anxiety; students with low intrinsic math motivation showed modest negative associations across anxiety levels.
  • In Study 1, after covariates, the quadratic math-anxiety term was significantly associated with Problem Verification and Calculation performance; the moderated quadratic term (MA² × MM) was significantly related to four tasks—Composing and Decomposing Numbers, Problem Verification, Calculation, and Applied Problems—but not to the Dots or Number-Line tasks. Total variance explained by predictors ranged from .02 to .25 across the six tasks.
  • In Study 2, hierarchical regression found the moderated quadratic interaction between math anxiety and math motivation significantly predicted Problem Verification performance after covariates and lower-order terms; post-hoc analyses replicated the Study 1 pattern.
  • In Study 1, math anxiety was negatively associated with all tasks after covariates, and math motivation was positively associated with all math tasks in the moderated models; in Study 2, math anxiety was negatively associated with math performance and math motivation positively associated with it.

Methods

  • Study 1: 262 pairs of same-sex adolescent twins from the Western Reserve Reading and Math Projects, mean age 12.25 years (SD = 1.20; range = 8.75–15.33). Participants self-reported math anxiety (MARS-E), math motivation (3 items from Chiu & Zeng, 2008), and general anxiety; math cognition was assessed with six tasks (Dots, Number-Line, Composing and Decomposing Numbers, Problem Verification, WJ-III Calculation, WJ-III Applied Problems). Structural equation modeling with interchangeable dyads was used, with bootstrapping on 1000 samples.
  • Study 2: 237 undergraduates (56% female; 18 excluded for technical problems or random responses), mean age 19.53 years (SD = 2.01; range = 18–39), recruited from Introductory Psychology via Qualtrics. Measures included MARS-B math anxiety, STAI trait anxiety, the same 3-item math motivation scale, and the hard items of the Problem Verification Task; hierarchical regression tested the moderated quadratic interaction.
  • Math anxiety, math motivation, and general anxiety were standardized and centered before computing interaction and higher-order terms; outcome variables were standardized.

Limitations

  • Stated in the paper: the findings should not be interpreted as evidence of a unidirectional causal relation between math-related emotion and math cognition, and longitudinal studies spanning multiple developmental stages are needed.
  • Stated/evident in the text: the three-way interaction was complex and effect sizes were small, with affect variables adding only incremental predictive effects beyond covariates.
  • Evident from the text: Study 1’s sample was 91% White and consisted of twins, and Study 2 used volunteer Introductory Psychology undergraduates, limiting generalizability; both studies were cross-sectional and relied on self-report affect measures.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/0956797615602471

Cites

41 of 41 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

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Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 34 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

Show all 33 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 31
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 16
44 of 44

Claims other papers make about this one

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Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Study 2 sex coefficient conflicts with its interpretation

    Minor

    Sex is coded 0 for female and 1 for male. A negative coefficient for sex therefore indicates lower predicted performance for males, not that males performed better.

1 of 1

Citations

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Bai H., 2009, Journal of Instructional Psychology, 36, 185
  2. Chiu L., 1990, Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 23, 121

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Metadata

Authors
Wang, Z., Lukowski, S. L., Hart, S. A., Lyons, I. M., Thompson, L. A., Kovas, Y., Mazzocco, M. M. M., Plomin, R., & Petrill, S. A.
Affiliations
  • Virginia Tech (US)
  • The Ohio State University (US)
  • Florida State University (US)
  • Western University (CA)
  • Case Western Reserve University (US)
  • King's College London (GB)
  • University of Minnesota (US)
Corresponding author
Wang, Zhe
Venue
Psychological Science
Published
2015-10-30
Volume
26
Issue
12
Pages
1863-1876
ISSN
  • 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-9280
OpenAlex
W2262152752
Cited by
225
References
41
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 7
FWCI
18.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD038075, R01HD068728, R01HD059215, R01HD038075, R24HD075460, HD075460, HD059215)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
  • Social Sciences › Education › Mathematics Education and Pedagogy
Keywords
mathematics anxiety, math motivation, intrinsic motivation, mathematics achievement, curvilinear relationship, inverted U-shaped relationship, numerical estimation, non-symbolic number processing, symbolic number processing, emotion-cognition interaction, mathematics learning, adolescents, university students
MeSH terms
Achievement, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Child, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Mathematics, Problem Solving, Regression Analysis, Students, Comprehension, Young Adult

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