Poor performance in Mathematics may cause anxiety, boredom in students

New Delhi: Maths has been known to bring out the worst possible fears in almost every student in school. Terms like algebra, trigonometry, etc., even sound scary to most people.

We all know at least one person who simply cringes whenever they are confronted with numbers and were the happiest when they didn't have to study the subject further after school.

The fear of numbers, which is often attributed to low IQ, has been dismissed by a a recent study conducted in Germany.

According to the study, poor performance in mathematics may trigger negative emotions in students such as anxiety and boredom.

The findings of the study suggest that performing poorly in Mathematics may stimulate strong emotions in students and has the tendency to further affect academic performance for years.

Stephanie Lichtenfeld from the University of Munich in Germany told IANS, "Successful performance in math increased students' positive emotions and decreased their negative emotions over the years".

It was found that although, students with higher intelligence scored better on their tests and had better grades, the students who performed better in Mathematics had an advantage in terms of academic achievements.

Talking about students who performed poorly in Mathematics, Lichtenfeld said, "In contrast, students with poor grades and test scores suffered from a decline in positive emotions and an increase in negative emotions, such as math anxiety and math boredom. Thus, these students become caught in a downward spiral of negative emotion and poor achievement".

The study was published in the journal Child Development. As part of the study, the team chose to study 3,425 students from grades five to nine belonging to different socio-economic backgrounds. The team evaluated these students' annual assessment of emotions and achievement. While the study measured emotions as reported by the students themselves, their achievement was measured by their year-end grades and performance in a math achievement test.

(With IANS inputs)