Mathematics anxiety: Effects of age, gender and culture

Many studies have indicated that mathematics anxiety is a significant problem for many people and is an important topic for research. Mathematics anxiety is multidimensional. In particular, it is important to distinguish between worry and emotionality components, and between trait and state anxiety. Much research shows a reciprocal relationship between mathematics anxiety and performance adding to the importance of gaining a greater understanding of the factors involved in mathematics anxiety.

This paper aims to review some studies of factors that have often been found to be associated with mathematics anxiety: age, gender, and culture, and to consider the evidence for these associations and the further research that should be done.

The study involved reviewing a range of papers on the selected topics. In particular, the search terms 'Age differences and mathematics anxiety', 'Gender and mathematics anxiety' and 'Culture and mathematics anxiety' were put into Web of Science; and citations of relevant papers that emerged were also investigated.

Most studies suggest that mathematics anxiety increases with age, and that the relationship between mathematics performance and at least some aspects of mathematics anxiety increase with age. Most, though not all, studies, indicate that females experience more mathematics anxiety than males, and some suggest that there are gender differences in the relationship between mathematics anxiety and performance. Most studies show cultural differences in mathematics anxiety, while also suggesting that the relationship between mathematics anxiety and performance is fairly uniform across cultures.

Cross-cultural studies in this area are. However, somewhat limited by the fact that culture is usually confounded with nationality. Moreover, there are studies of all these factors that give somewhat conflicting results.

More research needs to be done in order to gain clearer answers, especially regarding the ways in which the effect of age, gender and culture interact with one another. The findings so far about the influences of age, gender and culture on mathematics anxiety have already had significant practical implications, but these need much further development.