The Development and Validation of a Revised Version of the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale

Abstract

A 24-item shortened version of the 98-item Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) was developed to provide a more efficient index of statistics or mathematics course-related anxiety. The revised scale, which yielded a coefficient alpha reliability estimated at .98, was correlated .97 with a full scale MARS. It shows a pattern of relationships with state, trait, and test anxiety parallel to that of full scale MARS. Further, the relationship with mathematics achievement was consistent for both the revised and full scale MARS. A principal axes factor analysis of revised MARS identified two clear factors, labeled "Learning Mathematics Anxiety" and "Mathematics Evaluation Anxiety." Revised MARS appears to be an attractive substitute for full scale MARS for statistical or mathematical course-related uses.