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Examining the association between two aspects of grit and test anxiety among Chinese University students

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Abstract

Grit, which is a positive trait of an individual, has been found to be a strong predictor to academic success. Prior studies have indirectly showed that there is a negative association between grit and test anxiety. However, which aspect of grit, perseverance of effort or consistency of interest, is more salient in predicting test anxiety was not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between two aspects of grit (perseverance of effort and consistency of interest) and two dimensions of test anxiety (emotionality and worry), as well as the differences of the relationship across gender groups among Chinese students. In the present study, 996 university students from central area of China participated in this study. With multi-group SEM, the study revealed that consistency and perseverance negatively associated with two dimensions of test anxiety. The findings also show that in the female group, consistency predicts test anxiety, but perseverance was not significantly associated with test anxiety; in the male group, both perseverance and consistency were negatively associated with test anxiety, however, compared to perseverance, consistency had stronger correlation with test anxiety. Practical implications of the results are discussed.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the Github repository, https://github.com/rikku1983/students_Grit_anxiety_SEM/blob/main/data0.sav

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Acknowledgments

With the submission of this manuscript, I would like to undertake that:

1) The study was approved by Ethics Committee of Xinxiang Medical University.

2) This material is the authors’ own original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere.

3) The paper is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.

4) The paper reflects the authors’ own research and analysis in a truthful and complete manner.

5) The paper properly credits the meaningful contributions of co-authors and co-researchers.

6) The results are appropriately placed in the context of prior and existing research.

7) All sources used are properly disclosed (correct citation). Literally copying of text must be indicated as such by using quotation marks and giving proper reference.

8) All authors have been personally and actively involved in substantial work leading to the paper, and will take public responsibility for its content.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Henan Normal University, 246 Jianshe Road, Muye District, Xinxiang, 453007, China

    Feiya Xiao & Jieni Zhan

  2. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway Ave, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA

    Li Sun

  3. Foreign Language School, Southwest Jiaotong University, No. 111, North 1st Section of Second Ring Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu, 610000, China

    Yuxia Zeng

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  1. Feiya Xiao
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Correspondence to Feiya Xiao.

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Xiao, F., Sun, L., Zeng, Y. et al. Examining the association between two aspects of grit and test anxiety among Chinese University students. Curr Psychol 42, 10977–10986 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02393-0

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