Self Esteem as a Factor in the Mathematics Anxiety of Grade Six Pupils of Santolan Elementary School

Abstract

This study sought to assess the self-esteem and mathematics anxiety exhibited by grade-six pupils of Santolan Elementary School. Specifically, it sought to answer to find out the demographic profile of the pupil-respondents in terms of (1) gender, (2) monthly family income and (3) average grade in Mathematics for the last three grading periods. It also sought to find out the the pupil-respondents level of self-esteem, the extent of Mathematics Anxiety exhibited by pupil-respondents, how do pupil-respondents attribute their Mathematics Anxiety in terms of (1) personal, (2) school, (3) family and (4) peer factors. Finally, this study also sought to discover whether there is a significant difference on the level of Mathematics Anxiety exhibited by pupil-respondents with high self-esteem and low self-esteem levels. This study utilized a causal-comparative design and it was limited to 252 pupil-respondents chosen using a simple-random sampling through fish bowl method. Standardized and researcher-made instruments and appropriate statistical tools were utilized to determine their self-esteem and mathematics anxiety. It revealed that among the pupil-respondents, 133 or 53 percent were male and 119 or 47 percent were female. Meanwhile, 131 or 52 percent were from the P5,000-P15,000 monthly family income bracket, 64 or 25 percent belonged to P15,001-P25,000 monthly family income bracket, 49 or 19 percent belonged to below P5,000, and 8 or 4 percent belonged to above P25,000 monthly family income brackets. One hundred forty-one (141) pupil-respondents or 56 percent have 80-84 average in Mathematics, followed by 51 or 20 percent with 85-89 average, 42 or 17 percent with 75-79 average, and 18 or 7 percent with 90-100 average. It revealed that 205 or 81 percent pupil-respondents had high self-esteem, while 47 or 19 percent had low self-esteem. It also revealed that 5 or 1.9 percent of the pupil-repondents have sure mathematics anxiety, 135 or 53.6 percent are fearful about Mathematics, 110 or 43.7 percent are in the borderline, and 2 or 0.8 percent have no anxiety. The pupil-respondents who disagreed to attribute mathematics anxiety to personal and peer factors reached composite means of 2.13 and 2.24 respectively. Those who disagreed to attribute their mathematics anxiety to family factors had a composite mean of 2.12. Meanwhile, those who attributed mathematics anxiety to school factors yielded a composite mean of 2.56. The significant difference in the extent of mathematics anxiety exhibited by the pupil-respondents having high and low self-esteem levels was established: pupil-respondents having high self-esteem level had experienced low extent of Mathematics Anxiety, and vice-versa.

Keywords: self esteem, mathematics, anxiety