Correlational analysis on achievement goal orientation with mathematics anxiety of Malaysian schools students

Abstract

Achievement goal orientation is one of the motivational constructs that plays an important role in determining students' persistence in learning. Adoption of specific goal orientation brings about different learning outcomes. Meanwhile, mathematics anxiety is an affective variable that could influence students' learning and performance. High level of anxiety has always been related to poor achievement. This study was conducted to identify the relationship between motivational construct which was achievement goal orientation with mathematics anxiety. A total of 976 Malaysian secondary school students were selected through cluster random sampling to be the respondents of the study. The instruments used were achievement goal orientation questionnaire and a self-developed mathematics anxiety scale. All the collected data were analyzed by using Pearson correlation and linear regression analyses. Findings showed that mastery and performanceavoidance orientation were significantly correlated with mathematics anxiety while performanceavoidance contributes the largest variance to the changes in mathematics anxiety. The findings may provide a useful feedback for educators regarding the factors that could enhance or inhibit students' learning in mathematics.