Title: Does statistics anxiety affect students' performance in higher education? The role of students' commitment, self-concept and adaptability

Authors: Arsalan Najmi; Syed Ali Raza; Wasim Qazi

Addresses: Department of Management Sciences, IQRA University, Karachi 75300, Pakistan ' Department of Management Sciences, IQRA University, Karachi 75300, Pakistan ' Department of Management Sciences, IQRA University, Karachi 75300, Pakistan

Abstract: This study investigates the role of students' commitment, self-concept and adaptability on statistics anxiety and performance in higher education. Data was collected from 320 students enrolled in a business school in a Pakistan-based university by a survey questionnaire. After exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, results of structural equation modelling revealed that though students' commitment, self-concept and adaptability have a negative relationship with statistics anxiety, but the presence of the said attitudes mitigates the significance of statistics anxiety on students' performance. The study concluded that the presence of affirmative attitudes of students can minimise the significance of statistics anxiety on students' performance. Moreover, practical implications of the findings are also discussed.

Keywords: higher education; commitment; self-concept; adaptability; statistics anxiety; students' performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIE.2018.090705

International Journal of Management in Education, 2018 Vol.12 No.2, pp.95 - 113

Received: 30 Aug 2016
Accepted: 20 Jan 2017
Published online: 27 Mar 2018 *

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