This study was designed to determine whether or not students'
emotions and coping would change during stages of an examination.
If changes in emotions and coping were recorded at different phases of
an examination, then these findings would substantiate the position that
stress and coping are processes. In addition, the research attempted
to determine whether or not mediating factors would influence students'
reactions to the examination encounter. The mediating factors that were
examined were personality traits, cognitive appraisals, stress emotions,
and coping strategies.
One hundred-seventeen student volunteers from four sections of
college mathematic classes participated in this study. They were asked
to complete four sets of questionnaires on their reactions to tests.
The instruments used for measuring personality traits were The
Reactions to Tests Scale (Test Anxiety), the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale,
and the Test Efficacy Scale. Emotions were assessed with the Stress
Emotions Scale; cognitive appraisal was measured by The Stakes and
Difficulty of the Examination Scale; and coping was assessed by the
Ways of Coping Checklist.
Eleven hypotheses were tested in this study. The statistical
procedure for the first two hypotheses was the T test. In addition, a
Pearson Product-Moment Correlation was computed to test for significant
relationships for the remaining nine hypotheses. Regressions were
used for variables which showed significant correlations with the
personality trait measures in order to explain variations in emotions.
Seven of the null hypotheses were rejected. The following conclusions
we~e drawn from the study:
1. In some respects, stress and coping can be defined as a process.
2. The mediating factors, appraisal and coping, did influence the
students' emotional reactions to the examination.
3. The mediating factor, personality traits, did influence the
students' emotional and behavioral reactions to the examination.
In view of the findings, it is recommended that:
1. Further research be conducted on examination stress in order to
convincingly substantiate that stress and coping are processes.
2. Counselors and educators in higher education develop testing
procedures that facilitate students' test-taking ability.
3. Counseling services in higher education be designed to enhance
the performance and comfort level of highly test-anxious students. / Graduation date: 1987
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/38139 |
| Date | 30 April 1987 |
| Creators | Grina, Michaele E. |
| Contributors | Sisson, Carol |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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