The Relationship Between maladaptive Perfectionism And Test Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Avoidant Coping

Test anxiety is an educational problem frequently experienced by college students. Almost every student who takes a test feels some anxiety, but for some, the feeling is so intense that it affects their performance. With respect to the important role of test anxiety on the student's academic achievement and psychological well being, the purpose of this research was to test the effect of neurotic perfectionism on test anxiety considering the mediating role of avoidant coping. This correlation study was performed during second educational semester (2012-2013). 150 girl students in Shahid Chamran university of Ahvaz who selected randomly filled Test Anxiety Inventory(TAI), Ahvaz perfectionism scale(APS) and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations(CISS-21). A regression analysis was used to analyze the data. The indirect effects were tested using Baron & Kenny (1986) method. Findings indicated that the proposed model fit the data properly. The results also supported the mediating role of avoidant coping in the relationship between neurotic perfectionism and test anxiety. Discussion & According to the results, it seems that high neurotic perfectionism and avoidant coping strategy exist among students with test anxiety. Therefore, these variables have the eligibility to be considered in research, especially in the treatment.