Abstract
The goal of the current study is to examine the direct and indirect influences of parenting styles, math self-efficacy, and the participants’ sex on math anxiety. The research population (N = 204) included randomly selected participants, whose native language is Hebrew and were born in Israel. The participants were surveyed about four measures that served as the research tools. They answered questions about demographics, math anxiety, and the parenting style of the child’s mother and about math self-efficacy. The research data concluded that there were strong correlations between the authoritarian parenting style and math anxiety. The authoritative parenting style had both a direct positive correlation and an indirect negative correlation on math anxiety. This is in contrast to the permissive parenting style which was exclusively found to have a small positive correlation on math anxiety. The participant’s sex had both direct and indirect influences on math anxiety. Math anxiety levels, as well as the negative effects of self-efficacy on the level of math anxiety, were higher in females compared to males. These findings are relevant when considering methods of diagnosis and intervention surrounding math anxiety.
Highlights
Arithmetic capabilities are important for academic success as well as daily living (Jordan et al, 2009, 2010)
While several cognitive abilities related to math anxiety were examined in different studies, such as working memory and executive attention, few studies have addressed the effect of emotional factors on math anxiety, such as parenting styles and math self-efficacy (e.g., Ferry, 2000; Ashcraft, 2002; Ashcraft and Moore, 2009; Lee, 2009; Vukovic et al, 2013)
Math anxiety levels were higher in females compared to males
Summary
Arithmetic capabilities are important for academic success as well as daily living (Jordan et al, 2009, 2010). Regardless, many people avoid performing math operations, or have a lower performance than they are capable of, due to fear of failing those arithmetic functions (Ashcraft and Kirk, 2001). This phenomenon is known as math anxiety (Beilock and Maloney, 2015). None of the aforementioned studies have examined the combined influences of these factors. The present study will attempt to examine the combined effect of the factors in the form of a whole model
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