Anxiety and the Intellectual Performance of High School Students1,2

In two studies several indices of anxiety were related to intellectual performances of high school students. Results of the first study agreed with previous evidence that test anxiety is more consistently related to test performance than are more general anxiety indices. Test anxiety was significantly and negatively related to intellectual test performance and not significantly related to grade point averages. In the second study, none of the measures of anxiety were significantly related to grades or intellectual test performance of boys. For girls, however, test anxiety was negatively related to both. Differences in results of the two studies were discussed primarily in terms of contrasting socioeconomic levels of the two samples. This paper reports the results of two investigations of the relation between anxiety and indices of intellectual ability for high school students. The studies relate to a hypothesis based on previous research (io, II, 13, 15, 16). This hypothesis states that high and low test anxious Ss differ in intellectual performance as a function of the degree of novelty and threat associated with performance. In situations, such as in the classroom, where the student has an opportunity to become familiar with relevant stimuli such as the teacher, other students, and course subject matter, the performance of high and low anxious Ss would be expected to be comparable. However, in situations, such as in intelligence and aptitude testing, where the student may be quite uncertain about the nature and purposes of the testing, high anxious Ss would be expected to perform at a lower level than would low anxious Ss. This, presumably, would be due to the relatively greater potency of interfering or task irrelevant responses among high anxious Ss. Both of the present studies relate to this formulation in that high and low anxious Ss will be compared on (a) intelligence or aptitude tests for which Ss cannot prepare, and (b) course grade point averages. They will, in addition, investigate possible sex differences in anxiety and its intellectual correlates.