Mathematics anxiety, achievement, and university preparatory studies of teachers in training

Abstract

Mathematical anxiety is especially important when it manifests itself in preservice primary education teachers. Starting from a sample of 488 future teachers, three profiles of mathematical anxiety have been formed. Only 3 out of 10 subjects in the sample manifested the low-anxiety profile. Through an inferential analysis, the possible influence that academic performance and university preparatory studies may have on said anxiety was studied, finding a significant incidence in both variables. We feel that measures must be adopted to reduce anxiety, so that future teaching practice is not conditioned by a negative attitude.