The Relationship between Students' Test Anxiety and Attachment Styles and Perfectionism

Abstract

Test anxiety is excessive worrying about test performance. When preparing for exams, a little sense of anxiety is perfectly normal. However, if it goes beyond the natural range, it may disrupt the performance of students during exam. It is because they will have a feeling of powerlessness in expressing and explaining their learning. Therefore, the study was aimed to investigate the relationship between students' test anxiety and attachment styles and perfectionism. For this purpose, 200 male and female third-grader high school students were selected by multistage cluster sampling method. The sample filled out Attachment Styles Questionnaire (Besharat, 2000), Frost’s Perfectionism Questionnaire, and Sarason Test Anxiety Questionnaire individually. This study was based on correlation assumptions. Research criterion variable included test anxiety at one level, predictive variables included attachment at three levels of Secure Attachment, Ambivalent Attachment and Avoidant Attachment, and perfectionism at six levels as personal standards, organizing, concern on mistakes, doubting on actions, parental criticism and parental expectations. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that ambivalent attachment pattern was a significant predictor of test anxiety and that, perfectionism played a significant role in test anxiety (P<0/01). In addition, the results of variance analysis of the comparison of attachment patterns in male and female students showed that the level of ambivalent attachment in girls was higher than that of boys (P<0/05). The comparison of perfectionism and its related indicators showed that girls were more organized than boys (P <0/05). The comparison results of test anxiety between girls and boys indicated that there was no significant difference between the two groups. ambivalent attachment style was one of the Traumatic variables of students' test anxiety, which is accompanied with a feeling of insecurity and distresses the students. The perfectionism, as creator of rigid thought framework, was the important factor of