Intrinsic math motivation is positively correlated with arithmetic skills and negatively correlated with explicitly measured math anxiety in sixth graders¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 2 studies · 2 associationalr1·q2·i2–i3
Currency · newest study 2017 · checked against its sources 2026-10-17 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i3 Intrinsic math motivation correlates positively with math fluency (r= 0.59) and calculation (r= 0.37). → Daches Cohen L and Rubinsten O 2017
q2 i2 Intrinsic math motivation correlates negatively with explicitly measured math anxiety (r= −0.33). → Daches Cohen L and Rubinsten O 2017 (2)
Evidence¶
Daches Cohen L and Rubinsten O 2017¶
Daches Cohen L and Rubinsten O (2017) Mothers, Intrinsic Math Motivation, Arithmetic Skills, and Math Anxiety in Elementary School. Front. Psychol. 8:1939. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01939
q2 · i3 · associational · r1
Pearson correlation analysis of children's measures (Table 2) in the study of 27 sixth graders. The article reports "significant positive correlations were found between intrinsic math motivation and measures of arithmetic skills" with the printed r values.
"significant positive correlations were found between intrinsic math motivation and measures of arithmetic skills (for math fluency r= 0.59, p < 0.01; for calculation r= 0.37, p < 0.05)."
Daches Cohen L and Rubinsten O 2017 (2)¶
Daches Cohen L and Rubinsten O (2017) Mothers, Intrinsic Math Motivation, Arithmetic Skills, and Math Anxiety in Elementary School. Front. Psychol. 8:1939. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01939
q2 · i2 · associational · r1
Pearson correlation analysis of children's measures (Table 2) in the same sample. The article reports intrinsic math motivation "significantly negatively correlated with explicitly measured math anxiety" at r = −0.33, p < 0.05.
"intrinsic math motivation ( r = −0.33, p < 0.05) and math fluency (r=− 0.42. p < 0.025) were significantly negatively correlated with explicitly measured math anxiety (i.e., by the AMAS self-report questionnaire)."
Discussion¶
Learner Variables¶
- Academic Anxiety — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
- Affect Regulation — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
- Motivation — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
Related Claims¶
- Children's arithmetic skills are the strongest predictor of their explicitly measured math anxiety, with higher skills associated with lower anxiety — related
- Explicit and implicit measures of children's math anxiety are non-significantly correlated in this sample — related
- Preliminary evidence of intergenerational transmission of math anxiety: mothers' math anxiety relates to children's lower intrinsic math motivation and stronger attentional bias toward math stimuli — related
- Math anxiety has a small-to-moderate negative correlation with math achievement (r = −.28) in a meta-analysis of correlations from 223 studies — a broader claim this one bears on
- Math anxiety correlates strongly and negatively with mathematics achievement among third graders — related
- Math anxiety correlates negatively with math achievement, grades, enjoyment, motivation, and amount of math taken — related
- Intrinsic motivation was related to mathematical accuracy but not to fluency in Grade 3 — related
- At semester end, intrinsic motivation was positively correlated and programming anxiety negatively correlated with programming performance — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
intrinsic-math-motivation-correlates-skills-anxiety |
title |
Intrinsic math motivation is positively correlated with arithmetic skills and negatively correlated with explicitly measured math anxiety in sixth graders |
description |
Intrinsic math motivation is positively correlated with arithmetic skills and negatively correlated with explicitly measured math anxiety in sixth graders |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2017 |
source_checked |
2026-10-17 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-17 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — daches-cohen-l-and-rubinsten-o-2017, daches-cohen-l-and-rubinsten-o-2017-2 |
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