Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 27, 2026

Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Mathematics BM-PROMA
Published on: August 28, 2021
The Chicken or the Egg? The Direction of the Relationship Between Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematics Performance
Emma Carey1, Francesca Hill1, Amy Devine1
1Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK.
Abstract:
This review considers the two possible causal directions between mathematics anxiety (MA) and poor mathematics performance. Either poor maths performance may elicit MA (referred to as the Deficit Theory), or MA may reduce future maths performance (referred to as the Debilitating Anxiety Model). The evidence is in conflict: the Deficit Theory is supported by longitudinal studies and studies of children with mathematical learning disabilities, but the Debilitating Anxiety Model is supported by research which manipulates anxiety levels and observes a change in mathematics performance. It is suggested that this mixture of evidence might indicate a bidirectional relationship between MA and mathematics performance (the Reciprocal Theory), in which MA and mathematics performance can influence one another in a vicious cycle.
Related Concept Videos
Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies
Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model
Anxiety: Overview
Individuals with anxiety often experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, including sweating, trembling, tachycardia, and disturbances in sleep patterns. These symptoms vary in intensity and frequency but are generally disruptive and distressing.
Social Anxiety Disorder
Self-Discrepancy Theory

