Abstract

Gender differences in children’s emotional experience of math, their math performance, and the relation between these variables were investigated in two studies. In Study 1, test anxiety, math anxiety, and math performance (whole-number computation) were measured in 134 children in grades 3–8 (ages 7–15 years). In Study 2, perceived math competence, math anxiety, and math performance (whole-number computation) were measured in 208 children in grades 3–6 (ages 8–13 years) using data from the study of Jansen et al. (Learning and Individual Differences, 24, 190–197, 2013). Gender differences occurred only in test anxiety (boys had lower test anxiety than girls). Concerning the relationship between emotional experience of math and math performance, math anxiety and math performance were negatively related, but only for girls, even when controlled for test anxiety (Study 1). However, only the relation between perceived math competence and math performance was significant in Study 2, for both boys and girls. The relation between math anxiety and math performance was not significant in this study after controlling for perceived math competence. Therefore, we might conclude that perceived math competence is a crucial variable when investigating children’s emotional experience concerning math.

Highlights

  • Gender differences in children’s emotional experience of math, their math performance, and the relation between these variables were investigated in two studies

  • Given the importance of the gender gap in attitudes and beliefs, this research is focused on how the relation between math performance, math anxiety, and perceived math competence differs between boys and girls

  • We study gender differences in the relation between emotional experience of math and math performance in two studies, in samples of children with a wide age range

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Summary

Introduction

Gender differences in children’s emotional experience of math, their math performance, and the relation between these variables were investigated in two studies. Given the importance of the gender gap in attitudes and beliefs, this research is focused on how the relation between math performance, math anxiety, and perceived math competence differs between boys and girls. The majority of published studies in Western societies have demonstrated that girls reported higher levels of trait math anxiety and negative attitudes towards math than boys (Frenzel et al 2007: sample size of more than 2000 German participants; Goetz et al 2013: sample size of almost 700 German participants; Hembree 1990: meta analyses). In comparison with other countries, math anxiety in the Netherlands is relatively low (Lee 2009), but the gender difference, with girls reporting higher levels of math anxiety, is notable (effect size of d=−.38, in a sample of 15-year-olds; Else-Quest et al 2010)

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