What Are the Causes of Math Anxiety?
Math anxiety is a condition that produces both physical and emotional symptoms. While it's common to feel stressed by schoolwork, including math, math anxiety renders people almost incapable of doing math. Math anxiety can be caused by many different factors, including social reasons, environment, gender and negative experiences with teachers.
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Identification
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While the actual symptoms of math anxiety can differ from person to person, there are behaviors and feelings commonly associated with it, such as lack of confidence, paranoia, panic and passive behavior.
The difference between math anxiety and generalized anxiety is that the symptoms do not occur unless the person is dealing with things that are math-related. General anxiety disorder may have similar symptoms but will be experienced in many or most facets of life.
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Experience
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Math anxiety tends to be rooted in the experience of the individual. Those who suffer from anxiety have generally had a negative experience involving math. That experience may be with a teacher, a parent or even peers.
The way that math is taught in the classroom can have something to do with this as well. Often times, math tests in the classroom are timed. If someone is already feeling uneasy with the material, the deadline and need to complete the exam quickly can contribute to an individual developing math anxiety. When the student does not do well on the test due to that anxiety, it only serves to feed the problem.
Environment
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Mathematics has a reputation for being impossible and not interesting to most people. In countries such as Russia and Japan, math is seen as integral as literature. In general, people in those countries would not state that math is not interesting or that it's something impossible to learn. However, that attitude is prevalent in the United States.
Gender
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Gender bias in terms of mathematical ability and aptitude is alive and well. It's insidious, but it's there. There is still a belief that math is something at which boys naturally excel, as they are more logical thinkers. It's seen as unusual when a girl is gifted at mathematics. Parents and teachers can pass this along to girls, whether it's on purpose or unknowingly.
Other Factors
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If a student is suffering from math anxiety and is having difficulty grasping material as well, there is a chance that he could have a learning disability. One such learning disability, which centers on math, is called dyscalculia. If a child is dealing with a learning disability, the chances of suffering from math anxiety are higher. The student may feel a level of frustration that exacerbates the anxiety.
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- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of David Goehring
