Test anxiety with regard to self-concept, gender and students' school achievement

Istraživanja koja proučavaju ispitnu anksioznost pokazuju da je ona bitan čimbenik u objašnjavanju raznih psiholoških konstrukata, među kojima su i samopoštovanje te školski uspjeh. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati povezanost ispitne anksioznosti, samopoštovanja i školskog uspjeha kod učenika osnovne škole te provjeriti postoje li spolne razlike u povezanosti ispitne anksioznosti sa samopoštovanjem i školskim uspjehom. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 116 učenika sedmih razreda (54 dječaka i 62 djevojčice). Za mjerenje samopoštovanja koristili smo Coopersmithov upitnik samopoštovanja (SEI, Coopersmith, 1967; Lacković-Grgin i sur., 2002), a za procjenu ispitne anksioznosti Upitnik za mjerenje straha od ispitivanja (UMSI, Arambašić, 1986). Školski uspjeh smo izračunali kao prosjek ocjena iz predmeta s većim varijabilitetom (hrvatski jezik, matematika, biologija, kemija, fizika, povijest, geografija i engleski jezik). Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da je ispitna anksioznost statistički negativno povezana sa samopoštovanjem (r=-0,572; p0,05). Spolna razlika u povezanosti ispitne anksioznosti i samopoštovanja nije utvrđena.Studies that examine test anxiety show that it is an essential factor in explaining the various psychological constructs, including self-esteem and academic achievement. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between test anxiety, self-esteem and academic success in elementary school and to check whether there are gender differences in the correlation of test anxiety with self-esteem and academic achievement. The research was conducted on a sample of 116 seventh grade students (54 boys and 62 girls). To measure self-esteem, we used Coopersmith's Self-esteem Inventory (SEI, Coopersmith, 1967; Lacković-Grgin et al., 2002), and to assess test anxiety Questionnaire for the measurment of test anxiety (UMSI, Arambašić, 1986). School achievement was calculated as the average score of subjects with greater variability (Croatian, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, history, geography and English). The research results show that test anxiety is significantly negatively correlated with self-esteem (r=-0,572; p0,05). Gender differences in the correlation of test anxiety and self-esteem has not been established