Examination Anxiety among Male and Female School Students: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Background: A Comparative study was conducted to assess the level of Examination anxiety (Test anxiety) amongmale and female senior secondary school students in selected schools, Kollam, Kerala. The objectives of the studywere to assess the level of Examination anxiety among male and female senior secondary students and to comparethe level of Examination anxiety among male and female senior secondary students. The final objective was to findout the association between level of Examination anxiety and selected demographic variables.Materials and Methods: The present study adopted a Descriptive-Comparative design. 120 senior secondarystudents (60 Male and 60 Female) from 11th and 12th Standard were enrolled using Non-probability, Conveniencesampling technique. The conceptual framework of the study was based on the Transactional model of Test anxiety(Zeidner, 1998). Tools used for data collection were Demographic Performa and Modified Westside test anxietyscale.Results: Findings of the study revealed that the mean Examination anxiety score among male students was 2.53±0.69and among female students was 3.16±0.67. The ‘student t value’ computed at 5.11**, df = 118 by comparison ofthe mean examination anxiety scores of male and female senior secondary students was statistically significant atP<0.01 level. No association was observed between the level of Examination anxiety and selected demographicvariables (p>0.05). Conclusion: The findings of the study confirmed that the level of Examination anxiety amongthe female senior secondary school students were significantly higher than the male senior secondary students.