The Relationship between Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematics Performance in Chinese Basic Education Students: A Meta-Analysis Based on 68 Papers in Chinese

Abstract

Mathematics anxiety includes a variety of negative emotions, such as fear, tense, and worry, induced by the student’s math learning experiences. According to existing literature, there is a stable negative correlation between student mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance, and the incidence of anxiety experience is the highest among all negative emotions in student math learning. Existing meta-analytical studies mainly draw on samples from Western countries with most research results inapplicable to the Chinese context. This study is an analysis based on 22 journal articles and 46 theses in Chinese using the meta-analytic technique. It aims to examine the correlation between mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance in Chinese basic education students as well as the potential moderating factors.