The relationships between self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, and test anxiety: A cross‐lagged study

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of the present study was to illuminate the causal relationships between self‐esteem and test anxiety, as well as between general self‐efficacy and test anxiety using two‐wave longitudinal research design with a sample of 252 Chinese college students. After controlling for gender, grade and autoregressive effects, the results revealed that (1) self‐esteem at T1 did not significantly predict test anxiety at T2; (2) general self‐efficacy at T1 did not significantly predict test anxiety at T2; (3) test anxiety at T1 significantly and negatively predicted self‐esteem at T2; and (4) test anxiety at T1 marginally significantly and negatively predicted general self‐efficacy at T2. These results suggest that test anxiety is more likely to affect self‐esteem and general self‐efficacy rather than vice versa, and that the causal relationship between self‐esteem and test anxiety are clearer than the causal relationship between general self‐efficacy and test anxiety. However, given the limitation of the longitudinal research using cross‐lagged analysis for revealing causality, these results should be viewed with caution.