Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40707543›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Mathematics on the blackboard! Emotional processing of math-related pictures in individuals with math anxiety.

Rocío Linares, Santiago Pelegrina, Rafael Delgado-Rodríguez

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Rocío LinaresDepartment of Psychology, University of Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, 23071, Jaén, Spain.
Santiago PelegrinaDepartment of Psychology, University of Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, 23071, Jaén, Spain.
Rafael Delgado-RodríguezDepartment of Psychology, University of Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, 23071, Jaén, Spain. rfdelgad@ujaen.es.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the emotional processing of math-related pictures in individuals with math anxiety (MA). Undergraduate participants with low (n = 32) and high (n = 29) MA assessed math-related pictures, along with pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures, in terms of valence, arousal, and dominance. The high-MA group assessed math-related pictures with lower valence and dominance, and higher arousal, than neutral pictures. Indeed, they emotionally processed the math-related pictures similarly to unpleasant low-arousing images (e.g., pictures of heavily polluted environments). Both groups significantly differed only for the math-related pictures: the high-MA group scored lower in valence and dominance and higher in arousal compared to the low-MA group. These results indicate that math-related pictures are charged emotional cues, which moderately activate the defensive motivational system in individuals with MA. The present study contributes to our understanding of the threatening nature of images depicting math contents embedded in an ecological environment.

Indexed as

AnxietyMathematicsStudentsAvoidance LearningEmotionsFearFemaleGender-Nonconforming PersonsHumansMaleEmotional picturesEmotional processingMath anxietyMath picturesSelf-Assessment Manikin

Identifiers

PMID40707543
PMCPMC12290068

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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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.