The Relationship between Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement

Abstract

The major aim of this research study was to explore the relationship between test anxiety and academic achievement of students at the post graduate level. A sample of 414 students was randomly selected from seven different science departments in a public sector university in Lahore, Pakistan. Data were collected by using the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) developed by Spielberger. Pearson correlation, multivariate statistics and regression analyses were run for data analysis. It was found that a significant negative relationship exists between test anxiety scores and students’ achievement scores. Results showed that a cognitive factor (worry) contributes more in test anxiety than affective factors (emotional). Therefore, it is concluded that test anxiety is one of the factors which are responsible for students’ underachievement and low performance but it can be managed by appropriate training of students in dealing with factors causing test anxiety.