The Influence of Fear and Efficacy Appeals on Motivation, Test Anxiety, and Test Performance

Abstract

Due to changes in accountability standards educators have begun to modify their teaching styles. A primary change that has occurred is that teachers often resort to using threat-based messages that focus on the negative consequences of test failure rather than messages highlighting a student's ability or expectation for high performance in an attempt to prepare students for a high-stakes exam. The present investigation examined how 487 undergraduate college students' anxiety and test performance were impacted by the use of fear and efficacy appeals during two exams with differing stakes. The way in which motivation influenced the relationship was also investigated. It was hypothesized that students exposed to fear appeals would exhibit lower performance and increased anxiety as moderated by decreased motivation when compared to participants exposed to efficacy appeals. Contrary to prediction, however, results indicate that while there are no differences between the two groups with regard to state or trait anxiety, participants exposed to efficacy appeals performed worse and reported higher state anxiety. Additionally, higher intrinsic motivation was related to higher anxiety and decreased performance. The potential implications of findings are discussed, including the importance of instructional context with regards to teacher instructional practices and student success.