Test Anxiety and Emotional Reactivity on Test Outcome

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During studying students are experiencing varieties of emotions. Test anxiety and emotional reactivity to test outcome are one of most frequent and the strongest stressors for students during their college days (Pekrun, Goetz, Titz, & Perry, 2002). Various studies have shown that test anxiety correlate negatively with cumulative grades-point average (Diener, Schwarz, & Nickerson, 2011), academic performance (& Elliot, Pekrun, & Maier, 2009) and students’ health (Conley & Lehman, 2012). Test anxiety and emotional reactivity of test outcome can be influenced by both situational and trait factors (Putwain, Woods, & Symes, 2010). Previous research have shown that achievement goals (Putwain et al., 2010; Putwain & Daniels, 2010; Putwain & Symes, 2012), neuroticism (Chammorro-Premuzic, Ahmetoglu, & Furnham, 2008), perfectionism (Stoeber, Feast, & Hayward, 2009), locus of control (Davis & Davis, 1972) , and even a birth order (Saranson, 1969) are related with test anxiety. Above-mentioned studies suggest that beside situational factors, experience of test anxiety also depend on students’ individual characteristics. Test anxiety can be studied as both trait and state construct. State test anxiety refers to emotional distress in specific academic setting. Common situational factors include lower self-confidence for the specific test or an awareness of being not adequately prepared for the exam (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1992; Zohar, 1998). The trait test anxiety presents relatively stable individual differences in frequency and intensity of emotional response in test setting (Spielberger, 1972). Trait level of test anxiety is usually assessed by questionnaires. There are several questionnaires and scales of test anxiety upon which factor str... ... middle of paper ... ... and Individual Differences, 47(5), 423-428. Torrubia, R., Avila, C., Moltó, J., & Caseras, X. (2001). The Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ) as a measure of Gray's anxiety and impulsivity dimensions. Personality and Individual Differences, 31(6), 837-862. Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063. Živčić-Bećirević, I., Juretić, J., & Miljević, M. (2009). The Role of Metacognitive Beliefs, Automatic Thoughts During Learning and Attribution of Success in Students' Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement. Psihologijske teme, 18(1), 119-136. Zohar, D. (1998). An additive model of test anxiety: Role of exam-specific expectations. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(2), 330.

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