ArticleNPJ science of learning2023
Does anxiety explain why math-anxious people underperform in math?
Article in NPJ science of learning, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- The dynamics of state math anxiety vary by paradigm and timing during arithmetic.NPJ science of learning · 2026Article
- Testing whether paralinguistic cues alter math learning in highly math anxious adults.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The predictive effects of AI anxiety on 21st-century skills and lifelong learning tendencies: a study of pre-service teachers in Northern Cyprus.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Math anxiety and arithmetic learning: Evidence for impaired procedural learning and enhanced retrieval learning.Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition · 2025Article
- An integrated approach to understanding negative math experiences.Psychological research · 2025Article
- Strategy variability in computational estimation and its association with mathematical achievement.Psychological research · 2024Article
- Examining the Interplay between the Cognitive and Emotional Aspects of Gender Differences in Spatial Processing.Journal of Intelligence · 2024Article
- Investigating links between creativity anxiety, creative performance, and state-level anxiety and effort during creative thinking.Scientific reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Math-anxious people consistently underperform in math. The most widely accepted explanation for why this underperformance occurs is that math-anxious people experience heightened anxiety when faced with math, and this in-the-moment anxiety interferes with performance. Surprisingly, this explanation has not been tested directly. Here, using both self-report and physiological indices of anxiety, we directly test how much in-the-moment anxiety explains math-anxious underperformance. Results indicate that in-the-moment anxiety indeed explains why math-anxious people underperform-but only partially, suggesting a need to seriously consider alternative mechanisms. Results also showed that while some highly math-anxious individuals-those with high levels of heart rate variability-experienced less in-the-moment anxiety, they nevertheless performed no better at math. For these individuals, math-anxious underperformance must occur for reasons unrelated to in-the-moment anxiety. More broadly, our findings point to substantial individual heterogeneity in the mechanisms underlying math-anxious underperformance. Accounting for this mechanistic heterogeneity may prove vital for optimally boosting math performance in math-anxious individuals.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.