Learning to relax: Evaluating four brief interventions for overcoming the negative emotions accompanying math anxiety

Background. Numeracy skills are important for medical decision making as lower numeracy is associated with misinterpreting statistical health risks. Math anxiety, characterized by negative emotions about numerical tasks, and lower subjective numeracy (i.e., self-assessments of numerical competence) are also associated with poor risk comprehension. Objective. To explore independent and mediated associations of math anxiety, numerical ability, and subjective numeracy with risk comprehension and to ascertain whether their associations are specific to the health domain. Methods. Objective numeracy was measured with a 14-item test. Math anxiety and subjective numeracy were assessed with self-report scales. Risk comprehension was measured with a 12-item test. In experiment 1, risk comprehension items were limited to scenarios in the health domain. In experiment 2, participants were randomly assigned to receive numerically equivalent risk comprehension items in either a health or nonhealth domain. Results. Linear regression analyses revealed that individuals with higher objective numeracy were more likely to respond correctly to the risk comprehension items, as were individuals with higher subjective numeracy. Higher math anxiety was associated with a lower likelihood of correct responding when controlling for objective numeracy but not when controlling for subjective numeracy. Mediation analyses indicated that math anxiety may undermine risk comprehension in 3 ways, including through 1) objective numeracy, 2) subjective numeracy, and 3) objective and subjective numeracy in serial, with subjective numeracy mediating the association between objective numeracy and risk comprehension. Findings did not differ by domain. Conclusions. Math anxiety, objective numeracy, and subjective numeracy are associated with risk comprehension through unique pathways. Education initiatives for improving health risk comprehension may be most effective if jointly aimed at tackling numerical ability as well as negative emotions and self-evaluations related to numeracy.

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The Neurodevelopmental Basis of Math Anxiety

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797611429134 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 23 (5) ◽

pp. 492-501 ◽

Cited By ~ 122

Author(s):

Christina B. Young ◽

Sarah S. Wu ◽

Vinod Menon

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Reading Ability ◽

Math Anxiety ◽

Mathematical Reasoning ◽

Effective Connectivity ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Mathematical Problem ◽

Activity Patterns ◽

Emotional Reaction ◽

General Anxiety

Math anxiety is a negative emotional reaction to situations involving mathematical problem solving. Math anxiety has a detrimental impact on an individual’s long-term professional success, but its neurodevelopmental origins are unknown. In a functional MRI study on 7- to 9-year-old children, we showed that math anxiety was associated with hyperactivity in right amygdala regions that are important for processing negative emotions. In addition, we found that math anxiety was associated with reduced activity in posterior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex regions involved in mathematical reasoning. Multivariate classification analysis revealed distinct multivoxel activity patterns, which were independent of overall activation levels in the right amygdala. Furthermore, effective connectivity between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex regions that regulate negative emotions was elevated in children with math anxiety. These effects were specific to math anxiety and unrelated to general anxiety, intelligence, working memory, or reading ability. Our study identified the neural correlates of math anxiety for the first time, and our findings have significant implications for its early identification and treatment.

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Low Self-Control of Emotions as an Antecedent of Self-Reported Physical Symptoms: A Longitudinal Perspective

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027//1016-9040.6.1.26 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 26-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Marja Kokkonen ◽

Lea Pulkkinen ◽

Taru Kinnunen

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Physical Symptoms ◽

Self Control ◽

Personality Characteristics ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire ◽

Positive Direction ◽

Data Collections ◽

Low Self Control

The study was part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, underway since 1968, in which children's low self-control of emotions was studied using teacher ratings at age 8 in terms of inattentiveness, shifting moods, aggression, and anxiety. The study was based on data from 112 women and 112 men who participated in the previous data collections at ages 8, 27, and 36. At age 27, the participants had been assessed in Neuroticism (N) using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire , and at age 36 they filled in several inventories measuring, among others, conscious and active attempts to repair negative emotions in a more positive direction as well as physical symptoms. The present study used structural equation modeling to test the hypothesis that personality characteristics indicating low self-control of emotions at ages 8 and 27 are antecedents of self-reported physical symptoms at age 36; and that this relationship is indirect, mediated by attempts to repair negative emotions in a more positive direction. The findings showed, albeit for men only, that inattentiveness at age 8 was positively related to self-reported physical symptoms at age 36 via high N at age 27 and low attempts to repair negative emotions at age 36. Additionally, N at age 27 was directly linked to self-reported physical symptoms at age 36. The mediation of an active attempt to repair negative emotions was not found for women. Correlations revealed, however, that shifting moods and aggression in girls were antecedents of self-reported physical symptoms in adulthood, particularly, pain and fatigue.

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Towards a Validation of Multiple Features in the Assessment of Emotions

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759.14.3.202 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 202-210 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Suzanne Skiffington ◽

Ephrem Fernandez ◽

Ken McFarland

Keyword(s):

Factor Analysis ◽

Pilot Study ◽

Cognitive Appraisal ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

The Self ◽

Factor Analyses ◽

Data Set ◽

Multiple Features ◽

Action Tendency ◽

Intensity Range

This study extends previous attempts to assess emotion with single adjective descriptors, by examining semantic as well as cognitive, motivational, and intensity features of emotions. The focus was on seven negative emotions common to several emotion typologies: anger, fear, sadness, shame, pity, jealousy, and contempt. For each of these emotions, seven items were generated corresponding to cognitive appraisal about the self, cognitive appraisal about the environment, action tendency, action fantasy, synonym, antonym, and intensity range of the emotion, respectively. A pilot study established that 48 of the 49 items were linked predominantly to the specific emotions as predicted. The main data set comprising 700 subjects' ratings of relatedness between items and emotions was subjected to a series of factor analyses, which revealed that 44 of the 49 items loaded on the emotion constructs as predicted. A final factor analysis of these items uncovered seven factors accounting for 39% of the variance. These emergent factors corresponded to the hypothesized emotion constructs, with the exception of anger and fear, which were somewhat confounded. These findings lay the groundwork for the construction of an instrument to assess emotions multicomponentially.

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Daily Experiences of Commuting Strain and Self-Control at Work and at Home

Journal of Personnel Psychology ◽

10.1027/1866-5888/a000256 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 125-134

Author(s):

Bettina S. Wiese ◽

Olivia Chaillié ◽

Ruth Noppeney ◽

Anna M. Stertz

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Emotional Stability ◽

Self Control ◽

Diary Data ◽

Daily Experiences ◽

At Home

Abstract. The study investigates how commuting strain affects daily self-control capacities at work and at home. Irritability (i.e., increased readiness to express negative emotions when facing frustration) and concentration (i.e., a cognitive control capacity that relies on attention) were used as indicators of (impaired) self-control. Based on 5-day diary data from N = 185 train commuters, we found that on days with a strenuous ride from home to work, commuters indicated higher irritability and lower concentration capacity at work. On days with higher strain during the work-to-home ride, commuters reported to be more irritable back home. Moreover, commuters with low emotional stability turned out to be more affected by commuting strain but only if considering self-control impairment at home.

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When Does Voice Have to be More Than Only Listening? Procedural Justice Effects as a Function of Confident Leadership

Journal of Personnel Psychology ◽

10.1027/1866-5888/a000011 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 69-78 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

David De Cremer ◽

Maarten Wubben

Keyword(s):

Procedural Justice ◽

Interaction Effect ◽

Laboratory Experiments ◽

Negative Emotions

The present research examined how voice procedures and leader confidence affect participants’ negative emotions and willingness to withdraw. It was predicted that receiving voice would be valued out of instrumental concerns, but only when the enacting leader was high in confidence. Two laboratory experiments indeed showed an interaction between type of voice (pre-decisional vs. post-decisional) and leader’s confidence (low vs. high) on participants’ negative emotions and willingness to withdraw. In particular, post-decision voice only led to more negative responses than did pre-decision voice when the enacting leader was high in confidence. Negative emotions mediated this interaction effect of type of voice on willingness to withdraw. Implications for integrating the leadership and procedural justice literatures are discussed.

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Don’t Put Me in This Group

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000363 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 80-93

Author(s):

Jort de Vreeze ◽

Christina Matschke

Keyword(s):

Positive Emotions ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Negative Information ◽

The Self ◽

The Other ◽

Other Hand ◽

Group Memberships

Abstract. Not all group memberships are self-chosen. The current research examines whether assignments to non-preferred groups influence our relationship with the group and our preference for information about the ingroup. It was expected and found that, when people are assigned to non-preferred groups, they perceive the group as different to the self, experience negative emotions about the assignment and in turn disidentify with the group. On the other hand, when people are assigned to preferred groups, they perceive the group as similar to the self, experience positive emotions about the assignment and in turn identify with the group. Finally, disidentification increases a preference for negative information about the ingroup.

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