ABSTRACT
Test anxiety is an unpleasant state characterized
by feelings of tension, apprehension, worrisome thoughts and the activation of
the autonomic nervous system when an individual faces evaluative achievement-demanding
situation. It is the uneasiness felt by students who had fear of failing an
examination and/or test taking. This leads to hyper-arousal conditions that
result in the physiological, emotional and intellectual changes that prevent the
use of previously learned information during test-taking or examination. Test
is one of the main methods of assessment in schools at all levels, and it is
part of students’ life. Personality type is the psychological classification of
different types of individuals which, brings about the differences in people. The
purpose of this study was to determine personality types as correlate of test
anxiety among university-based and hospital-based nursing students in selected
nursing schools in Enugu Urban. Descriptive correlational design was used for
the study. Two hundred and eight (208) nursing students participated in the
study. One hundred and fifty (150) from the Department of Nursing Sciences,
UNEC and fifty eight (58) from School of Nursing University of Nigeria Teaching
Hospital, Enugu. Instrument for data collection were Test Anxiety Inventory,
(TAI) and Big Five Personality Inventory (BFPI) Data was collated and analyzed
with the aid of the computer statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version
19.0 using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) and Chi square (X2)
There was no sampling done as all the final year nursing students were used for
the study. Results of the research findings revealed that there was no
significant relationship between personality types and test anxiety of male
nursing students (0.277, P > 0.05) hence the Ho is accepted. Also, there is
no significant relationship between Openness, Extraversion and Agreeableness
personality types and test anxiety of female nursing students
(P>0.05).Therefore, the Ho is accepted too. However, there is significant
negative relationship between conscientiousness and test anxiety of female
nursing students (r= -0346, P<0.05) which implies that the more
conscientious the female nursing students are, the less their test anxiety and
higher performance in test taking. Also, there is significant positive
relationship between neuroticism and test anxiety of female nursing students
(r= 0.359, P<0.05)of university-based and hospital-based nursing students
which means that the more neurotic the female nursing students are, the more
their test anxiety and low performance in test taking hence the Ho is rejected.
It is recommended that coping strategies to reduce test anxiety should be
included in nursing programmes/curriculum assist students who show symptoms of
test anxiety.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title Page
Table of Content
List of Tables
Abstract
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Statement of Problem
Purpose of Study
Objective of Study
Research Hypotheses
Significance of Study
Scope of study
Operational Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual Review
Concept of Test Anxiety
Anxiety
Components of Test Anxiety
Symptoms of Test Anxiety
Classification of Test Anxiety
Causes of Test Anxiety
People Prone to Test Anxiety
Concept of Personality
Concept of Personality Types
Theories of Personality Types
Type Approach
Hippocrates’s and Galen’s Classification of Personality Type
Kretschmer’s Classification
William Sheldon’s Classification
Trait Theories of Personality
Eysenck’s Three Factor Theory
The Five Factor Model of Personality
The Big Five Personality Inventory
Concept of Gender
Social Gender
Gender and Text Anxiety
Review of Related Theories
Cognitive Interference Theory (CIT)
Gordon Allports Trait Theory of personality
Empirical Review
Personality Types and Test Anxiety
Gender and Test Anxiety
Conceptual Model
Dependent variable
Independent Variables
Intervening Variables
Summary of Literature Review
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODS
Research Design
Area of Study
Population of Study
Sample Size
Sampling Procedure
Inclusion Criteria
Instrument for data collection
Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI)
Validity of Instruments
Reliability of Instruments
Pilot Study
Ethical Consideration
Procedure for Data Collection
Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Discussion of Findings
Conclusion
Educational implications of the study
Recommendations
Limitations of the Study
Suggestions for further Research
Summary of the Study
References
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Test anxiety is an unpleasant state characterized by feelings of tension and apprehension, worrisome thoughts and the activation of the autonomic nervous system when an individual faces evaluative achievement-demanding situations (Tuncay, & Ergene, 2012). It is the hyper-arousal condition that results in physiological, emotional and intellectual changes that prevent the effective use of the previously learned information while taking an examination. Test anxiety is a non-specific trait that refers to the anxiety state and worry conditions experienced during examination (Ndirangu, Muola, Kithuka & Nassiuma, 2009).
Test or examination is an assessment intended to measure a test-taker’s achievement, knowledge, skill, aptitude or physical fitness. It is one of the main methods of assessment in schools at all levels (Woolfolk, 2009). Test taking is part of students’ life. However, it has been observed that some students are so fearful of tests or other forms of examination such that many students develop test anxiety towards examination. The level of test anxiety can fluctuate over time in an individual in response to different types of tests or examination. An individual, in response to both internal and external stimulation exhibit some observable behaviours such as perspiration, excessive movement, and questioning of instructions, sweaty palms and muscle tension during testing situations. Also, there may be disruption or disorganization of effective problem solving and cognitive control of the student including difficulty in thinking clearly (Freidman & Benda -Jacob, 2007).
According to Ohman (2000), test anxiety involves a physiological over arousal, worry and dread about test performance which often interferes with normal learning and lowers test performance. Harris and Coy (2005) stated that test anxiety and other deficits related to test anxiety interfere with academic performance. A study conducted by Cassady and Johnson (2002), on cognitive test anxiety of undergraduate students in Kuwait and United States of America showed that students with high level of anxiety have low academic performance. The students perform poorly not only in the regular class setting but also on achievement and aptitude tests (Fiore, 2003). Test anxiety is believed to be the trait that predisposes students to react negatively to examinations and tests (Keogh and Steven, 2010).
Test anxiety according to Spielberger (1979) and Eubank (1993), consists of two major components: worry and emotionality. Worry is an unpleasant thought or concern about things that might happen or problems that one may have which includes personal thoughts regarding poor test performance, ultimate course or academic failure (Fiore, 2003). Emotionality, on the other hand describes the unpleasant autonomic responses such as fear, panic, tension, increased heart and respiratory rates, muscle tension, sweaty palms, etc (Slade & Francis 2009). Emotionality tends to peak immediately before a test, and falls off rapidly when the test is concluded. Furthermore, emotionality is not related to performance expectancy but worry is related to performance expectancy, and tends to be fairly constant across time (Leibert & Morris, 1967 in Onyeizugbo, 2010).
Worry impairs performance by reducing the amount of working memory available, such that task performance is seriously impaired. While test-anxious individuals must put in more effort to achieve the same satisfactory levels of performance as their non-test anxious counterparts, they have the capability of performing well when their worry is contained. Of the two components of test anxiety, worry has been found to contribute more to test anxiety and poor performance (Keogh et al., 2004). According to Chinta (2005), students with high test anxiety respond to test or examination with intense emotional reactions and negative self-thought that impair performance leading to lower grades and result in high dropout rates of students. On the other hand, students with low levels of anxiety maintain their focus throughout information processing and retrieval; because there is few or no cognitive deficiency and the students persist in doing the task and perform well during examination and achievement test (Onyeizugbo, 2010).....
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