Mothers, Intrinsic Math Motivation, Arithmetic Skills, and Math Anxiety in Elementary School
Math anxiety is influenced by environmental, cognitive, and personal factors. Yet, the concurrent relationships between these factors have not been examined. To this end, the current study investigated how the math anxiety of 30 sixth graders is affected by: (a) mother’s math anxiety and maternal be...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01939/full |
| _version_ | 1819137467192705024 |
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| author | Lital Daches Cohen Orly Rubinsten |
| author_facet | Lital Daches Cohen Orly Rubinsten |
| author_sort | Lital Daches Cohen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Math anxiety is influenced by environmental, cognitive, and personal factors. Yet, the concurrent relationships between these factors have not been examined. To this end, the current study investigated how the math anxiety of 30 sixth graders is affected by: (a) mother’s math anxiety and maternal behaviors (environmental factors); (b) children’s arithmetic skills (cognitive factors); and (c) intrinsic math motivation (personal factor). A rigorous assessment of children’s math anxiety was made by using both explicit and implicit measures. The results indicated that accessible self-representations of math anxiety, as reflected by the explicit self-report questionnaire, were strongly affected by arithmetic skills. However, unconscious cognitive constructs of math anxiety, as reflected by the numerical dot-probe task, were strongly affected by environmental factors, such as maternal behaviors and mothers’ attitudes toward math. Furthermore, the present study provided preliminary evidence of intergenerational transmission of math anxiety. The conclusions are that in order to better understand the etiology of math anxiety, multiple facets of parenting and children’s skills should be taken into consideration. Implications for researchers, parents, and educators are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T10:51:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-71af4abdea2b4bb68e0d4b5bbc5c0eaa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T10:51:20Z |
| publishDate | 2017-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-71af4abdea2b4bb68e0d4b5bbc5c0eaa2022-12-21T18:28:45ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782017-11-01810.3389/fpsyg.2017.01939286516Mothers, Intrinsic Math Motivation, Arithmetic Skills, and Math Anxiety in Elementary SchoolLital Daches CohenOrly RubinstenMath anxiety is influenced by environmental, cognitive, and personal factors. Yet, the concurrent relationships between these factors have not been examined. To this end, the current study investigated how the math anxiety of 30 sixth graders is affected by: (a) mother’s math anxiety and maternal behaviors (environmental factors); (b) children’s arithmetic skills (cognitive factors); and (c) intrinsic math motivation (personal factor). A rigorous assessment of children’s math anxiety was made by using both explicit and implicit measures. The results indicated that accessible self-representations of math anxiety, as reflected by the explicit self-report questionnaire, were strongly affected by arithmetic skills. However, unconscious cognitive constructs of math anxiety, as reflected by the numerical dot-probe task, were strongly affected by environmental factors, such as maternal behaviors and mothers’ attitudes toward math. Furthermore, the present study provided preliminary evidence of intergenerational transmission of math anxiety. The conclusions are that in order to better understand the etiology of math anxiety, multiple facets of parenting and children’s skills should be taken into consideration. Implications for researchers, parents, and educators are discussed.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01939/fulleducational psychologyemotional developmentmath anxietymath achievementintrinsic math motivation |
| spellingShingle | Lital Daches Cohen Orly Rubinsten Mothers, Intrinsic Math Motivation, Arithmetic Skills, and Math Anxiety in Elementary School Frontiers in Psychology educational psychology emotional development math anxiety math achievement intrinsic math motivation |
| title | Mothers, Intrinsic Math Motivation, Arithmetic Skills, and Math Anxiety in Elementary School |
| title_full | Mothers, Intrinsic Math Motivation, Arithmetic Skills, and Math Anxiety in Elementary School |
| title_fullStr | Mothers, Intrinsic Math Motivation, Arithmetic Skills, and Math Anxiety in Elementary School |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mothers, Intrinsic Math Motivation, Arithmetic Skills, and Math Anxiety in Elementary School |
| title_short | Mothers, Intrinsic Math Motivation, Arithmetic Skills, and Math Anxiety in Elementary School |
| title_sort | mothers intrinsic math motivation arithmetic skills and math anxiety in elementary school |
| topic | educational psychology emotional development math anxiety math achievement intrinsic math motivation |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01939/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT litaldachescohen mothersintrinsicmathmotivationarithmeticskillsandmathanxietyinelementaryschool AT orlyrubinsten mothersintrinsicmathmotivationarithmeticskillsandmathanxietyinelementaryschool |