Relationship between attribution of success and failure and school anxiety in chilean students of secondary education

• Published in: Psicología desde el Caribe : revista del Programa de Psicología de la Universidad del Norte Vol. 33; no. 2
• Main Authors: Nelly Gromiría Lagos San Martín, Cándido José Inglés Saura, Ossa Cornejo, Carlos Javier, Gonzálvez-Maciá, Carolina, Vicent-Juan, María, García-Fernández, José Manuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Barranquilla Fundación Universidad del Norte 01.05.2016
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Anxiety; Educational psychology; Secondary school students
• ISSN: 0123-417X; 2145-9428

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between attributions of academic success and failure in Language and Maths, and School Anxiety in Chilean high school students. It involved 1314 students from 15 secondary educational institutions, of Ñuble's province in Chile, whose age range was from 13 to 17 years ( M = 15.55, SD = 1.32). School Anxiety was assessed with the School Anxiety Inventory (SAI), and causal attributions with the Sydney Attribution Scale (SAS). Results showed that students who attributed less their successes and failures to external causes in Language had higher means in school anxiety. On the other hand, subjects who had higher school anxiety attributed their success due to less ability in Maths and their failures to the lack of ability in Maths and Language. Finally, students who attributed their success due to effort in Language showed higher means in school anxiety. We conclude that the data support previous findings and warn about the need to manage these issues in school process.