Academic buoyancy moderates the relation between anxiety and mathematics test performance, with performance highest when anxiety is low and buoyancy high¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2–r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2021 · checked against its sources 2026-10-24 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? A statistically significant Academic Buoyancy × Anxiety interaction (none for enjoyment or boredom) showed the negative anxiety–performance relation was strongest at high buoyancy and non-significant at low buoyancy: performance was highest with low anxiety and high buoyancy, and the advantage of high buoyancy diminished as anxiety rose. The data are longitudinal survey and test scores, so they cannot show that buoyancy causes the difference. → Putwain 2021 q3 i? At +1SD buoyancy the anxiety–performance relation was B = -3.91; at mean buoyancy B = -1.38; at -1SD buoyancy it became non-significant (B = 1.16). → Putwain 2021 (2)

Evidence¶

Putwain 2021¶

Putwain, D. W., Wood, P., & Pekrun, R. (2021). Achievement emotions and academic achievement: Reciprocal relations and the moderating influence of academic buoyancy. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000637

q3 · i? · associational · r3

A latent-interaction SEM using the LMS approach in 1,242 primary students found "a statistically significant interaction was shown for Academic Buoyancy × Anxiety" but not for enjoyment or boredom interactions. Probing showed the negative anxiety–performance relation was strongest at high buoyancy and non-significant at low buoyancy; the authors read this as performance benefiting from lower anxiety combined with higher buoyancy, with the benefit of buoyancy declining at higher anxiety, so that buoyancy "protected performance at lower levels of anxiety" rather than at high anxiety. The design is correlational (emotions and buoyancy self-reported, test scores over four waves), so the moderation describes how the relations differ, not a causal effect of buoyancy.

"A statistically significant interaction was shown for Academic Buoyancy × Anxiety, but not Academic Buoyancy × Enjoyment or Academic Buoyancy × Boredom."

Putwain 2021 (2)¶

Putwain, D. W., Wood, P., & Pekrun, R. (2021). Achievement emotions and academic achievement: Reciprocal relations and the moderating influence of academic buoyancy. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000637

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Simple slope probing of the Buoyancy × Anxiety interaction showed the negative anxiety–performance relation strengthened with buoyancy: "At +1SD buoyancy a negative relation was shown between anxiety and performance (B = -3.91, SE = 1.27)".

"At +1SD buoyancy a negative relation was shown between anxiety and performance (B = -3.91, SE = 1.27). This relation was weaker at mean buoyancy (B = -1.38, SE = .34) and at -1SD buoyancy became non-significant (B = 1.16, SE = 1.25)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Academic Anxiety — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it
• Affect Regulation — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it

Related Claims¶

• Anxiety negatively predicts subsequent mathematics test performance in primary school students when emotions are modeled simultaneously — related
• Test performance predicts subsequent enjoyment, boredom, and anxiety in primary school students, but only anxiety relates reciprocally to performance — related
• Math anxiety has a small-to-moderate negative correlation with math achievement (r = −.28) in a meta-analysis of correlations from 223 studies — related
• Test anxiety correlates negatively with math achievement at a pooled r = −.23, weaker than math anxiety's correlation — related
• When enjoyment, boredom, and anxiety are modeled simultaneously, anxiety exerts the strongest predictive power for mathematics achievement — related