The Relationship between Locus of Control, Test Anxiety and Religious Orientation among Iranian EFL Students

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate the relationship among locus of control (LOC), religious orientation (RO) and test anxiety (TA) among Iranian EFL learners. Furthermore, it scrutinized the role of gender on these variables. To achieve such goals, 100 Iranian EFL students (57 females, 43 males) studying English at Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman participated in the study. These students were randomly selected from junior and senior students majoring in English Translation and English Literature. In order to obtain the required data, three questionnaires were utilized: Rotters’s (1966) locus of control scale (LOCS) to measure participants’ level of LOC, Sarason’s (1975) test anxiety scale (TAS) to measure participants’ TA, and Allport and Ross’s (1967) religious orientation scale (ROS) to determine participants’ intrinsic or extrinsic religious orientation. For analysis of data, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and T-test were used. The results revealed that there was a significant negative relationship between ILOC and TA and a significant positive relationship between ELOC and TA. Furthermore, there was a significant positive relationship between ILOC and IRO and a significant positive relationship between ELOC and ERO. Also, there was a significant negative relationship between ILOC and TA, and a significant positive relationship between ELOC and TA. Finally, there were not any significant differences among males and females regarding ILOC, ELOC, TA, IRO, and ERO.