The Effect of Chess Game on Decision Making Process and Academic Achievement in Mathematics: The Moderating Role of Gender

Intellectual games play a key role in developing children's thinking, problem solving, decision making and cognition. Using a causal-comparative approach, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of chess on decision making process and academic achievement in mathematics taking into account the moderating role of gender in this respect. The participants were 100 (50 females and 50 males) primary school students in Shiraz selected through purposive sampling. The students completed the deliberative and intuitive decision-making scale (Wolff), whose reliability and validity were determined using Cronbach's alpha and exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation. The participants further answered a researcher-made math test, the reliability and validity of which were examined through test-retest and content validity. Multivariate analysis of variance, two-way analysis of variance and repeated measures analysis of variance were performed to analyze the obtained data. No significant difference was found in the results between the decision-making processes of chess players and non-chess players and gender was not found a determining factor in this respect. Notwithstanding, The results showed that there was no significant difference between chess player and non-chess player students, both girls and boys, in the decision-making process, chess player students had higher meaningful average in math score than non-chess player students and dominant decision-making process among chess player students was deliberative process. Therefore, due to the findings of the present study, it is necessary for educational planners and parents to pay attention to the use of chess to create decision-making skills and also to help academic math achievement in students and their children.