ФАКТОРСКА СТРУКТУРА И КОНВЕРГЕНТНА ВАЛИДНОСТ УПИТНИКА МАТЕМАТИЧКЕ АНКСИОЗНОСТИ ЗА УЧЕНИКЕ СРЕДЊИХ ШКОЛА
FACTOR STRUCTURE AND CONVERGENT VALIDITY OF THE MATH ANXIETY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines the characteristics of the Math Anxiety Questionnaire for high school students. The research presented here aimed to establish the factor structure of the questionnaire and its convergent validity. The research sample consisted of 514 high school students (45.3% male) from Serbia whose average age was 16.7 years. The instruments used in the research were the Serbian adaptation of the Math Anxiety Questionnaire, as well as the Mathematics Motivation Scale and the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale, which were used to validate the questionnaire. Mathematics achievement was operationalized as the average grade in mathematics at the end of the first term and at the end of the school year. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis suggest the existence of two dimensions of math anxiety: Anxiety and Negative Emotional States. Both dimensions are negatively correlated with Interest, Satisfaction, Usefulness, as well as mathematics achievement, while a positive correlation was detected between these two dimensions and Lack of Motivation for Learning, as well as math anxiety accompanying studying and knowledge evaluation. The math anxiety questionnaire was found to be an adequate and valid instrument for use with high school student populations, and can therefore prove useful to mathematics teachers, psychologists and educationalists in their practical work and advisory work with vulnerable student groups.

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