Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Jul 2023)
Effect of Academic Self-Efficacy on Test Anxiety of Higher Vocational College Students: The Chain Mediating Effect
Abstract
Jicheng Jia,1,2 Yongchao Ma,3 Shengnan Xu,1 Jiaqi Zheng,2 Xinli Ma,2 Yuzhen Zhang,2 Weijuan Sun,2 Lizhi Liu2 1Department of Education, The National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 2Department of Talent Development and Continuing Education, Shandong Shengli Vocational College, Dongying, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 3Computer Science, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USACorrespondence: Jicheng Jia, Tel +86 15689138097, Email [email protected]: This study aimed to investigate the impact of academic self-efficacy on test anxiety among higher vocational students, as well as the role of sense of life meaning, fear of failure, and gender difference in mediating this relationship.Methods: A total of 2231 higher vocational students from Shandong Province were surveyed by means of Academic Self-efficacy Questionnaire, Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and Test Anxiety Scale.Results: There were significant negative correlations among academic self-efficacy, sense of life meaning, and test anxiety. Fear of failure was positively correlated with test anxiety. Sense of life meaning and fear of failure played a mediating role in the relationship between academic self-efficacy and test anxiety. The chain mediating effect was significant only in the female group, not in the male group. In contrast, academic self-efficacy indirectly predicted test anxiety by the independent mediating effect of sense of life meaning or fear of failure in the male group.Conclusion: Academic self-efficacy may influence test anxiety through the independent mediating effect of sense of life meaning, fear of failure, and the chain mediating effect, and there is a gender difference in these effects.Keywords: higher vocational students, academic self-efficacy, sense of life meaning, fear of failure, test anxiety
