5.5 Test Anxiety

Test-taking can be an incredibly anxiety-inducing experience for many students.  Anxiety is prevalent on college campuses. In 2018, the American College Health Association published the National College Health Assessment. In it, the organization stated that 63% of college students in the United States experienced overwhelming anxiety in the previous 12 months. Additionally, 23% of students reported being diagnosed or receiving treatment for anxiety over that time period.3 While anxiety and stress are serious concerns, it helps to use resources and practices to make them manageable. We will spend time in future chapters discussing the link between health and academic success, emphasizing the importance of self-care to overcome some of these challenges.

However, one facet of anxiety that we will discuss in this chapter is testing anxiety. Almost everyone experiences some level of nervousness or tension before tests. The term “test anxiety” refers to the emotional, physical, and cognitive reactions that some students have to exams. These students have an adverse reaction to preparing for or taking an exam, not performing to their potential and their scores not reflecting their knowledge or capability. The fear of exams is not an irrational one – after all, how you perform on college exams can shape the course of your academic career. Dealing with testing anxiety is not rare. It is estimated that 20-35% of college students suffer from testing anxiety.⁴

Addressing Test Anxiety

Some students experience physical symptoms of anxiety before and during exams (an upset stomach, sweaty palms, etc.). Many of these students have trouble recalling information that they know and become so nervous about preparing for or taking a test that they have difficulty planning, thinking, concentrating, and relaxing. A little nervousness can actually help motivate us; however, excessive fear of exams is a problem when it interferes with your ability to be successful in college.

Anxiety is created by expectations or thoughts about what is likely to happen. If you think negative things about yourself relating to your abilities, you produce a corresponding negative emotional reaction: anxiety. If you believe you are not smart, you don’t know the information well enough, or you aren’t capable of performing well on exams, then your expectations will be for failure. Negative expectations then create anxiety, and anxiety can disable you from actually doing well. Therefore, if you believe in yourself and your abilities and have positive expectations for how you will perform on the exam, you will be better able to cope with the anxiety (a small amount of anxiety can be helpful for performing well.).

Students may blame poor exam performance on test anxiety. This poor performance may actually be a lack of preparedness for a test (which causes anxiety), rather than classic test anxiety. Be well prepared. If your anxiety is a direct result of a lack of preparation, consider anxiety a normal, rational reaction. Lack of preparation is indicated by the following:

• Cramming the night before the exam
• Poor time management
• Failure to organize course information
• Poor study habits
• Worrying about past performance on exams and how friends and other students are doing in comparison to yourself

However, if you are adequately prepared but still panic, “blank out,” and/or overreact, your reaction is not rational. In either case, it is helpful to know how to overcome the effects of test anxiety.

Coping with Test Anxiety

Addressing testing anxiety can be a daunting task. It is an irrational fear brought up by a high-stress situation. However, we do have control over many aspects of it. When discussing coping mechanisms to deal with anxiety, we have to address things we can do to prevent it from happening in the first place and things we can do to lower the impact when it happens.

Mental preparation is a primary concern when dealing with test anxiety. Preparing for an exam appropriately can help lower the stress around it and increase confidence. First and foremost, start by having a study plan, implementing various approaches from the previous chapters. Then, you can start focusing on your mental preparedness.

Make sure to develop a positive mindset and outlook. Remind yourself that your entire future doesn’t depend on this exam. Don’t give a test the power to define you. An exam won’t tell you whether you’re brilliant or stupid. As you anticipate the exam, think positively (e.g., “I can do okay on this exam. I’ve studied and I know my stuff.”). Remember that the most reasonable expectation is to try to show as much of what you know as you can. Then, remind yourself of past successes. Think of a tough course in which you struggled but eventually succeeded. Tell yourself that if you did well on that past exam, you can do well on the upcoming exam.

If you find yourself worrying a lot when studying, engage in “thought stopping”, mentally comparing yourself to your peers, or thinking about what others may say about your performance in a course. Alternatively, you can practice anxiety control strategies. As you study, deliberately induce anxiety by saying to yourself the negative thoughts you typically have during an exam (i.e., “I’m going to fail”). Remind yourself that you will probably experience some anxiety during tests, but the anxiety won’t hamper your performance because you’ve practiced controlling it. Additionally, try not to study right before an exam. Frantic reviews are often more confusing than helpful. Lastly, get a good night’s sleep. Don’t go without sleep the night before an exam. Being fully rested lowers stress levels and prevents stress from building up as you take your exam.

Anxiety might spike once the exam begins. There are two approaches to consider. First, minor stretching exercises on your seat can help. Change positions to help you relax. Stretch your arms and legs and then relax them again. Tense and relax muscles in several parts of your body, then take several deep breaths with your eyes still closed. These breathing exercises are the second technique to try. Breathe in slowly to the count of seven and exhale to the count of seven. While it might seem counterintuitive, taking a couple of minutes to steady your breathing can make the remainder of the exam more productive.

You can control test anxiety so that your performance on a test reflects your real standing in that course. However, if levels of test anxiety that interfere with your academic success persist, talk to a counselor for some specialized help. Health Services can assist with diagnosis and provide short or long-term counseling services to aid with the problem. Additionally, the Educational Access Center (EAC) provides accommodations for students with any physical or mental health challenge.

Citations

1. Dillon, Dave. Blueprint for Success in College and Career. OER Commons. https://press.rebus.community/blueprint2/. CC BY 4.0.
2. Yigal Attali and Maya Bar-Hillel, “Guess Where: The Position of Correct Answers in Multiple-Choice Test Items as a Psychometric Variable,” Journal of Educational Measurement 40 no. 2 (2003):109-128.
3. Nicole J. LeBlanc, M. (2019, August 27). Anxiety in college: What we know and how to cope. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/anxiety-in-college-what-we-know-and-how-to-cope-2019052816729
4. Damer, D. E., & Melendres, L. T. (2011). “Tackling Test Anxiety”: A Group for College Students. The Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 36(3), 163-177.