Uncovering the Causes of Math Anxiety.

“I’m not a math person”
~millions of people everywhere~

When I tell people that I am involved in math education, what do you think is the most frequent response? Let’s make this one multiple choice:

a) OMG, I love math. It’s one of my favorite things to do in the world.

b) Math? Cool. I like math. I’ve always been pretty good at it.

c) Uuugghh… I hate math. I never could get how a letter could be a number.

Based on personal experience of hearing thousands of such responses, I can tell you that the most common response is definitely some variant of answer (c) – and by a landslide. In most cases, however, this outward disdain for math actually masks a more deeply entrenched fear.

Math anxiety, defined as “a feeling of tension, apprehension, or fear that interferes with math performance,” is a pervasive problem that has garnered increasing attention as a major obstacle to math education across the globe.

In this article, I will explore the question of why so many people are afraid of math, in the hopes that understanding how we got ourselves into this mess is a good first step toward finding our way out.

Math Anxiety = Bad at Math?

A lot of people think ‘math anxiety’ is just another way of saying ‘bad at math’ – and for good reason. There is a well-established correlation between math anxiety and math deficits. What isn’t clear is whether the deficits cause the anxiety, or the anxiety causes the deficits.

This chicken and egg question has been extensively researched, and there are even fancy names for both sides of the debate. The math deficiency model says poor performance leads to anxiety, while the debilitating anxiety model says that anxiety leads to performance that is worse than one’s ability would suggest.

At this point, there is general agreement that the relationship between math deficits and math anxiety is actually bidirectional, creating a sort of negative feedback loop or “vicious cycle” in which math avoidance plays an important role. If there were no math deficits to begin with, there inevitably will be some deficits if an individual doesn’t do any math.

Math anxiety appears to be a real thing, distinguishable not only from poor math performance, but also from other more general forms of anxiety such as test anxiety or performance anxiety.

According to neuroimaging studies on math anxious individuals, the mere anticipation of doing math elicited hyperactivity in the right amygdala, the part of the brain associated with learned fear.  In another study, the experience of doing math actually lit up parts of the brain that register bodily harm. Evidently, for some people, math literally hurts.

The Dark Side of Math 

If the fear of math is learned, where do people learn it?

And the survey says… math teachers. This one is direct from the horse’s mouth. Negative experiences with unsupportive or demeaning teachers is the number one reason cited for math anxiety.

I know… it’s easy to blame it on the teachers. Notwithstanding the tendency for people to externalize blame for their shortcomings, we must acknowledge that there really are some teachers out there doing harm to students. Check out some of these derogatory comments attributed to math teachers:

  • “How many times do I have to tell you…?”
  • “You should know this by now.”
  • “I’m not going to help you if you are not going to try.”
  • “Not you again, dummy.”
  • “Go get help from the tutoring center if you are that dumb.”

Source: (Jackson & Leffingwell, 1999)

This public shaming is a type of trauma in which math becomes a trigger for a cascade of negative emotions that, in the absence of corrective experiences, can persist well into adulthood.

But the issue of math anxiety is far too pervasive to attribute it entirely to the occasional sadistic teacher. Well-intentioned teachers, too, are subject to unconscious motivations and reactions that can inadvertently communicate negative attitudes toward math or math students.

The pervasive aversion and apathy of math students can take a psychological toll on teachers, leading to burnout and a cynical attitude that can slip out in subtle ways. Unfortunately, this sort of covert communication can be just as harmful as more overt behaviors, leaving students caught in a wake of anxiety and self-criticism.

Human see, Human do

There is also the issue of vicarious learning, whereby students learn to fear math through observation of adult role models.

Numerous studies have shown particularly high rates of math anxiety among pre-service and early career elementary school teachers, who inevitably model that anxiety for their students. This problem is particularly salient in the case of female teachers, to whom young girls look for an example of how a woman should be.

Parents are also frequently part of the problem. One study found that math anxious students whose parents helped with homework actually did more poorly than those without help. This points to a trans-generational problem in which math phobic parents pass negative math attitudes on to their children.

Finally, if students are not learning math aversion from teachers and parents, they are certainly learning it from television and media. Dan Meyer’s short clip Hollywood Hates Math, does a great job of communicating the pervasiveness of the cultural message that math is boring, difficult, and reserved for the specially talented – aka socially awkward. Why would anyone want to do math, if it leads to ridicule and social isolation?

Peeling the Layers

Just a moment’s reflection should reveal the absurdity of the idea that math could actually harm someone. After all, it’s just a bunch of abstract ideas and ink on a page. Math can’t eat you, can it?

The typical response to this assertion is something like, “Well, I never was any good at it. I’m afraid I won’t be able to do it.” Okay, fear of failure then. We’re getting warmer… Why is failure so scary? There’s nothing inherently painful or threatening about being unsuccessful with a new challenge is there? Or is there?

“Well, I’m afraid people will think I’m stupid.” Ah, there we go – the interpretation of failure is the thing. What we are really talking about here is fear of social judgment. That’s reasonable. Social judgment can certainly induce painful feelings of shame, embarrassment, or humiliation, particularly if the judgment comes from people whose opinion is important to you.

The Heart of the Matter

At the root of this fear of social judgment is, in a word, egoism. Most of us have been groomed by an individualistic society that glorifies competition and is terrified of failure. Our collective emphasis on grades and test scores sends the message that self-worth is derived from quantitative measures of performance and devalues learning for its own sake.

We are taught that failure is to be avoided at all costs. The problem with this attitude is that learning and progress are impossible without failure. The antidote to this pervasive fear of failure is to change the way we collectively view failure. We need to promote a mastery orientation, in which learning is valued over performance, and failure is seen as a natural part of the process that helps us understand how we can improve.

If we do not begin to challenge the performance = self-worth equation, and the fear of failure that comes with it, we will have a hard time ever making a dent in the problem of math anxiety.

Summary

Math anxiety. It’s a thing. A large percentage of the population sees math as something alien and inaccessible and, most importantly, a threat to their sense of self-esteem.

Through a combination of traumatic experiences, vicarious learning, and cultural messages, students often internalize the idea that math is something to be feared and avoided before they even have a chance to decide for themselves.

One of the reasons for examining the different sources of math anxiety in this article was to impress upon you the idea that interventions designed to address math anxiety by focusing on improving math instruction will never be sufficient.

When faced with a psychological problem, you will need to find a psychological solution. In an upcoming article, I will offer a collection of evidence-based psychological strategies that can help transform the fear and loathing of math into excitement and even delight.

With you in the pursuit,

Dr. Dave

Are you a teacher?
Check out my full course Understanding and Combating Students’ Math Anxiety available for CEU credits at CE Credits Online

References:

Mathematics Anxiety: Separating the Math from the Anxiety (Lyons & Beilock, 2012)

The role of instructors in creating math anxiety in students from kindergarten through college (Jackson & Leffingwell, 1999)