The Causal Influence of Anxiety on Academic Achievement for Students of Differing Intellectural Ability

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship be tween anxiety and learning within the context of drive theory and trait-state anxiety theory. It was hypothesized that trait anxiety (A-trait) would in fluence 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 achieve ment were obtained concurrently at three times during the course. GRE scores were used as mea sures 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 correla tional data. Results showed that A-trait influenced A-state and achievement, but the relationship be tween 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.