The causal influence of anxiety on academic achievement for students of differing intellectual ability

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between anxiety and learning within the context of drive theory and trait-state anxiety theory. It was hypothesized that trait anxiety (A-trait) would influence state anxiety (A-state), which in turn would influence academic achievement. The subjects were 86 students enrolled in a graduate education course for whom measures of A-state, A-trait, and achievement were obtained concurrently at three times during the course. GRE scores were used as measures of intellectual ability. Data were analyzed using the frequency-of-change-in-product-moment technique (Yee & Gage, 1968), a causal analysis statistic which permits the determination of source and direction of causal influence in lagged correlational data. Results showed that A-trait influenced A-state and achievement, but the relationship between A-state and achievement was ambiguous. When intellectual ability was considered, A-trait was found to influence A-state and achievement, but only for high-ability students.