Predicting education science students’ statistics anxiety: The role of prior experiences within a framework of domain-specific motivation constructs
Based on a cognitive-motivational modeling of construct relations, the present study aimed at analyzing the role of prior statistics experiences to explain education science students’ statistics anxiety. Data were analyzed from two independent samples which consisted of N = 113 and N = 87 participants – using a different operationalization of the experience variable in each case. In both samples, analyses demonstrated students’ statistics anxiety to be substantially explained by their self-concept and negative utility value – but not by their prior statistics experiences. However, conceptually assumed interaction effects between motivation and experience variables did not occur. Instead, students’ statistics anxiety appeared to be dependent on self-concept and value scores across all experience levels. Moreover, different operationalizations of the experience variable produced somewhat varying effect patterns. Findings are discussed in terms of conceptual, methodological, and instructional implications.
