Hnrs 400 Research Proposal

MATHEMATICS ANXIETY AND HUMOR 1
Humor Effects on Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematics Achievement
Maria Socha
Missouri Southern State University
HNRS 400: Research Seminar
Casey Cole
December 2, 2021
Humor Effects on Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematics Achievement
In education, research based practices are everything. There are always new
studies coming out regarding best practices and how to implement them effectively for
the benefit of students. In the area of education, thousands of scholarly articles have
been and continue to be published each year. As children reflect the future of where
society is headed, it is imperative to do the best we can to provide effective services for
students. Although mathematics anxiety has been affecting students and adults for
many years, it was not until the past few decades when we started to really study
mathematics anxiety (Ashcraft, 2002; Barroso, 2021; Chinn, 2009; Devine, 2012;
Furner, 2002). Though researchers still have not pinpointed causes of mathematics
anxiety in students, what we have learned about what it is and how it affects our
teachers and students in educational and in real world settings. This study aims to
explore the effectiveness of one strategy in relieving student mathematics anxiety
levels.
When reading through the bodies of literature already written, much information
is available about mathematics anxiety. Research shows effects of mathematics anxiety
on students, teachers, classrooms, test scores, and child well-being among other things
(Ashcraft, 2002). Many studies have been performed to show links between
mathematics anxiety and test scores showing the inverse relationship between these
two factors (Tobias, 1993; Harari et al., 2013; Devine et al., 2012) . Additionally, much
information is available regarding humor studies ((Darling and Civikly, 1986; Bakar,
2019; Nicoleta, 2018; (Shahid and Ghazal, 2019). This has shown the effects of humor
physically and emotionally, as well as the variety of ways that students and teachers
perceive humor and how it is used in the classroom. A gap in the previous research,
however, is how mathematics anxiety and humor interact with one another in the
classroom. In this study, I hope to add to the previous bodies of literature by determining
if there is any significant relationship between humor and mathematics anxiety as well
as humor and mathematics performance in the classroom when used as a method of
teaching style.
Mathematics anxiety, also known as a phobia of mathematics, affects students
and adults of all ages (Ashcraft, 2019). This phenomena is having negative effects on
students academically, socially, emotionally, and even physiologically (Lyons and
Beilock, 2012). Over the years, numbers of students with mathematics anxiety have
been on the rise and this trend does not seem to be slowing down (Ashcraft, 2019). The
significance of the proposed experiment involves finding ways to ease student
mathematics anxiety in order to help students feel and perform better. This study
intends to bridge the gap between areas of study that have already been highly
researched. Mathematics anxiety is known to have negative effects on mathematics
performance (Ashcraft and Krause, 2007; Devine et al., 2012; Barroso et al., 2021;
Haiyan, 2009). On the flip side, humor has been shown to have positive effects on
general anxiety throughout research as a coping mechanism or way to relieve
symptoms of anxiety (Tagalidou et al., 2019). Teachers in the educational field have
historically used humor as a method of teaching adopted into their teaching style for
purposes of relationships and classroom community more than as means of teaching
content (Shahid and Ghazal, 2019).. Since this has proved to be true, theoretically, by
using humor as a method of teaching practice in the classroom, student mathematics

anxiety should be reduced and consequently, student mathematics performance should
increase.
Mathematics Anxiety
When studying how humor may affect levels of mathematics anxiety, it is first
important to establish what exactly this phenomenon is. Mathematics anxiety is
commonly defined as feelings of tension, apprehension, or fear related to working with
mathematical problems or manipulation of numbers (Tobias, 1993). While the feelings
and symptoms that individuals with mathematics anxiety face are real, mathematics
anxiety is not a disorder that is officially diagnosed. Mathematics anxiety is a
widespread problem that affects individuals of all ages across the globe (Tobias, 1993).
Ashcraft (2002) argues that highly math-anxious individuals demonstrate characteristics
including a strong tendency to avoid math. This avoidance of mathematics can lead to
underperformance in mathematics competence due to lack of exposure. According to
Ashcraft (2002), mathematics anxiety notably differentiates mathematics anxiety from
both general anxiety and test anxiety. These forms of anxiety can absolutely be isolated
or can be presented in combination with one another. While general anxiety is a
diagnosable disorder, mathematics anxiety is characterized more as people who
experience feelings of stress and tension when faced with math-related situations.
Ashcraft (2002) explains that individuals with high levels of math anxiety also generally
scores high on other anxiety measurements. In a 2002 study by Ashcraft, findings found
that the strongest interrelationship with mathematics anxiety was with test anxiety which
demonstrated a .52 correlation. This shows that if the proposed study does reveal an
effect of humor on mathematics anxiety, it will likely also aid in test anxiety. Additional
research should be done to determine humor aids in relief of general test anxiety as well
as mathematics. Research shows that despite overlaps between mathematics and test
anxiety, the two prove to be separate phenomenons. Ashcraft (2002) and Skaalvik
(1997) agree that mathematics anxiety in research can be defined as avoidance
oriented feelings of fear, tension, and apprehension that can occur when engaging with
mathematics in school or other settings. Supporting the notion regarding negative
effects of mathematics anxiety, Ashcraft and Krause (2007) demonstrated that the
performance on a standardized mathematics achievement test varies as a function of
mathematics anxiety. They argued that the preoccupation with one’s mathematics fears
and anxieties is resource demanding. It interferes with the working memory of
math-anxious individuals and lowers the capacity to concentrate on mathematics
problems. A study of a large sample of undergraduate students revealed that these
negative emotions including anxiety were highly predictive of lower self-regulation skills
in students.
Prevalence of Mathematics Anxiety
According to Kennedy and Tipps (1998), an increasing number of studies are
revealing that mathematics anxiety begins in the early school years. However, although
it begins in these early years, mathematics anxiety widely exists in middle school,
college, and adult life (Harari et al. 2013; Jackson and Leffingwell 1999). Research has
estimated that at least 93% of Americans from kindergarten through college and around
50% of British adults experience varying degrees of mathematics anxiety in their lifetime
(Chinn 2009; Furner and Duffy 2002). Again in the US, an estimated 25% of four-year
college students and up to 80% of students who attend community colleges experience
moderate to severe mathematics anxiety levels (Wang and Lu, 2006). Another study
that yet again proves that mathematics anxiety is prevalent was a Chinese study by
Wang and Lu (2006). This study showed that 69% of junior high school students
experience moderate and more serious mathematics anxiety (Wang and Lu, 2006).
Studies have shown that mathematics anxiety affects students of a variety of grades
and stages of life. Additionally, mathematics anxiety does not just occur within the
borders of one nation but occurs universally in educational facilities and beyond. In a
society that runs on the basis of basic literacy and mathematics skills, it is easy to
understand how an issue that is this prevalent needs to be addressed. The present
study will be performed with hopes of finding a way to ease levels of mathematics
anxiety to hopefully improve the negative effects discussed below in order to help
students and adults alike across the globe.
Effects of Mathematics Anxiety
From mathematics avoidance to poor test scores and student relationships with
math, mathematics anxiety is shown to have many negative effects on students.
Mathematics anxiety has been negatively correlated with mathematics performance in
many studies (Ashcraft and Krause, 2007; Devine et al., 2012; Barroso et al., 2021;
Haiyan, 2009). A study by Chinn (2009) shows that mathematics anxiety has a negative
effect on learning attitudes. The tension and apprehension that students feel around
mathematics stimuli hurts their motivation and excitement to learn. Additionally, students
who face mathematics anxiety are less likely to enroll in courses that involve
mathematical content (Meece et al.,1990). Working memory (Ashcraft and Krause,
2007), and metacognition (Legg and Locker Jr., 2009), relating to mathematics
performance are also decreased when individuals are faced with mathematics anxiety.
Not only are the negative effects we see students face with mathematics presented in
the classroom, but these symptoms are appearing in students’ normal lives (Maloney
and Beilock, 2012). This makes students more likely to struggle with financial decisions,
choosing a career, and even day-to-day activities like reading cash register data
(Maloney and Beilock, 2012).
In addition to struggles academically, students with high levels of math anxiety
experience symptoms that affect them physically as well (Lyons and Beilock, 2012). In a
study by Lyons and Beilock (2012), data shows that when anticipating an upcoming
math task, the higher the participant’s anxiety, the more the participant demonstrates an
increase in the regions associated with visceral threat. Additionally, in the bilateral
dorsal-posterior insula region, the region associated with the feeling of pain, there is an
increase in brain activity (Lyons and Beilock, 2012). In other words, for individuals with
high levels of math anxiety, the brain’s neural response to math stimuli sparks a similar
reaction as it would with experiencing physical pain. In the study, participants were
asked to complete a word task and a math task for the experiment while using fMRI to
track and monitor neural data (Lyons and Beilock, 2012). Findings from this study show
that the regions of the brain that are activated when people feel physical pain are the
same regions of an HMA individual anticipating math (Lyons and Beilock, 2012).
Relating to the present study, finding a method to relieve math anxiety for students will
not only help them academically, but physically and emotionally as well by avoiding this
form of neural response to mathematics.
Humor
History of Humor in Education
Historically, in the last decade, research on humor in educational settings has
focused on four main areas (Darling and Civikly, 1986). The areas include general
positive effects of humor on learning and in teaching styles, humor as an aid in memory
retention and comprehension of content, humor as a method of relieving test or
performance anxiety, and the effects of humor on student perceptions in the classroom
(Darling and Civikly, 1986). Though there are a variety of subjects covered in this
research, an area of literature that is lacking is between the relationship of humor with
mathematics anxiety, which is the aim of the present study.
Effects of Humor in Teaching
Humor has been shown to have psychological, physical and social benefits and
has proved to be useful in educational contexts over and over again in the last sixty
years (Unsal et al., 2018). In a study by Shahid and Ghazal (2019), results from 100
student participants show that the use of humor in teaching with aims to make students
laugh has positive effects on student learning. Rather than focusing on student
performance, this article supports my ideas by showing that humor helps improve
teaching effectiveness in terms of motivation, engagement, anxiety reduction,
stimulation of thoughts, interest in studies, and fostering positive teacher-student
relationships. In the study, a cross-sectional design compared teachers who use humor
and teachers who do not (Shahid and Ghazal, 2019). Each student rated two teachers
choosing one who they think uses humor in class lectures and the other who does not,
and filled out a questionnaire on each as well (Shahid and Ghazal, 2019). When
analyzing the data collected, student responses generally rated teachers more effective
who were perceived to use humor in their teaching style as opposed to teachers who
did not (Shahid and Ghazal, 2019). These results show a positive relationship between
teacher’s use of humor and student’s motivation levels, anxiety reduction, class
engagement, teacher-student relationships, and teacher effectiveness overall (Shahid
and Ghazal, 2019). This provides evidence support for the benefits of using humor as a
method of relieving math anxiety in the classroom. Since research shows that
mathematics anxiety causes student motivation to decline (Ashcraft and Krause, 2007),
this study provides evidence to counter that by implementing humor into teaching styles
(Shahid and Ghazal, 2019).
Bakar’s 2019 study shows other benefits to using humor in education. According
to Bakar (2019), humor assists teachers in gaining and retaining student’s attention and
enhances student learning. Humor helps to maintain a teacher’s good reputation, to
build strong teacher-student relationships, and foster positive emotions towards a
learning subject (Bakar, 2019). Humor has proved to benefit students in the classroom
both socially, emotionally, and academically when used in a manner that aligns with
learning content.
Benefits of Laughter
Using humor as a method of teaching has two goals: sparking student laughter,
and teaching students. Since humor stimulus aims to bring about laughter for students,
it is important to understand what effects laughter has on students that could relate to
mathematics anxiety and its consequences. Nicoleta’s 2018 study aimed to investigate
the immediate effects of laughter on self-acceptance, anxiety, and anger by having
volunteer and anonymous participants watch a situational comedy show. The 17

participants were divided into a control and an experimental group. Findings from this
study show that the participants in the experimental group, after having watched and
laughed at a comedy, were more self-acceptant, less likely to express anger, and most
importantly to the present study, were less inclined to feel thoughts of anxiety (Nicoleta,
2018). If students are feeling more confident in themselves, they may be less likely to
present mathematics avoidant behaviors. In addition to simulated laughter, integrative
laughter is another method used to ease student anxiety. Another study concluded that
adding an integrative laughter therapy session to standard treatment in a day hospital
for individuals with addictive disorders yielded a greater improvement in self-esteem,
anxiety, and happiness compared to standard treatment alone (Francisco et al., 2019).
This shows the effects of laughter on trait anxiety and demonstrates the idea that
laughter proves to have benefits on general anxiety, leading to the idea that humor will
help reduce mathematics anxiety when used in schools.
Using humor in the classroom might be viewed as a risky behavior for a teacher
as it could be hit or miss in the sense that students will value the humor used. However,
a 2011 study by Mora-Ripoll explores the health benefits of simulated laughter. This
study in particular focuses on how simulated laughter techniques can be easily
implemented in traditional clinical settings for the medical field. Since these practices
proved successful in this context, it is beneficial to study potential benefits in the field of
education as well. Results of the analysis of literature show that laughter has shown
different physiological and psychological benefits with very limited adverse effects.
There is limited literature, but there is evidence to suggest that simulated laughter also
has effects on certain aspects of health, though further well-designed research is

warranted. This research shows the possibility of benefits of laughter that is simulated
(artificial rather than genuine). While the human mind is able to make a distinction
between stimulated and spontaneous laughter, the human body cannot (Mora-Ripoll,
2011). Regardless of whether laughter is stimulated or spontaneous, literature shows
that health-related outcomes are produced (Mora-Ripoll, 2011). This supports the idea
that even if students in the classroom do not find the humor stimulus to be humorous,
forced/fake laughter that is simulated is still shown to have positive effects on the body.
Effective Use of Humor in the Classroom
When using humor in the classroom, not just any humor should be used. Studies
show that students respond to some types of humor better than others (Bakar, 2019;
Darling and Civikly, 1986). Research shows that the general consensus among
students is that the use of humor is profoundly beneficial in education (Unsal et al.,
2018). However, humor in the classroom can help students or hurt them depending on
whether it is perceived or understood well or not (Darling and Civikly, 1986). One way to
effectively implement humor into education is by using it in a manner that is both
appropriate and relevant (Bakar, 2019). Humor is considered relevant when it is usefully
applicable to the topic, concept, or theories discussed in the course content (Bakar,
2019). Students prefer teachers to use humor that is relevant to the learning content as
opposed to unrelated humor or no humor at all (Bakar, 2019). In the present study, the
humor stimulus used will be relevant in accordance with this Bakar (2019) study and will
be appropriate to the age level and context of the classroom.
Hypotheses
Hypothesis 1: Students taught by a teacher using humor will have reduced mathematics
anxiety compared to a class taught with the absence of humor.
Hypothesis 2: Students taught by a teacher using humor will have increased
mathematics performance compared to a class taught with the absence of humor.
Methods
Participants
For this study, 40 students will be recruited to participate. All of these students
will be 12th grade students attending Pea Ridge High School in Pea Ridge, Arkansas.
The participants of this study will be recruited from 2 different virtual/online Algebra 3
classes. Although participants have not had the same mathematics teacher in years
prior, all students in the study will have taken Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 as prerequisites
for entry into this mathematics course. The typical age range of participants will be
17-18 years old.
Materials
For course delivery, I will use two Powerpoints. These Powerpoints will cover the
topic of substitution in Algebra 3 and will be identical with the exception of five
math-related humorous images acting as the independent variable in the humor group.
In accordance with Bakar 2019, these five cartoon images will be relevant and
appropriate. To measure mathematics anxiety, I will use The Abbreviated
mathematicsAnxiety Scale (AMAS; Hopko et al., 2003). Items in this scale will have
response options from 1 (not anxious at all) to 5 (very anxious) where higher summed
scores will indicate a greater level of mathematics anxiety. To measure mathematics
achievement, students will be given a 10-item assessment over the material covered in
the lecture (substitution). Items on this assessment will include 5 multiple choice, 2
true/false, and 3 open-response styled questions.
Design
In order to determine if humor might have an effect on mathematics anxiety or on
mathematics performance, I will conduct a quantitative experimental study with a
pre-test post-test design. My experiment will have two groups- the group that is exposed
to a humor stimulus will act as the experimental group, and the group that is not
exposed to humor will act as the control group. The independent variable for this study
will be humor.
For the purposes of this study, the operational definition of humor will be five
mathematics-related cartoon images created with the intention of being funny. There will
be two dependent variables for this study. The first dependent variable that I will
observe is mathematics anxiety. To measure this, I will use students’ scores on the
AMAS (Hopko et al., 2003). My second dependent variable is mathematics
achievement. This will be measured by students’ scores on the assigned 10-item
assessment to be completed after the lecture. All participants will be randomly assigned
to one of the two classrooms/groups (i.e., humorous or standard).
Procedure
After being randomly assigned to their group, all students will participate in an
Algebra 3 class in their designated group. Participants will be told that they will (1) take
a pre-test to measure individual levels of mathematics anxiety, (2) watch their
mathematics lecture video in a whole-group setting, (3) complete a brief mathematics
achievement assessment, and (4) complete a post-test to again measure their levels of
mathematics anxiety. In this Algebra 3 course, class material will be presented virtually
in a format that uses Powerpoint presentations with a voiceover. The voiceover will be
identical for each of the two groups. The form of humor manipulation used in the lecture
will consist of 5 relevant and appropriate math-related cartoon images. The Powerpoints
for each group will be 3 identical with the exception of the cartoon images in the humor
group. In the humor group, the Powerpoint will begin and end with a cartoon image to
prime the effect of humor and to likely have more of an impact on participants due to
primacy recency effects. In the humor group, each of the five humorous images will be
shown for eight seconds.
I chose to use a virtual method of class delivery for this study to eliminate
possible differences in the presentation of information including time, speed, content
and duration of the lesson. This method ensures that students all receive a lesson that
is similar except for the use of humor in the experimental group. Each classroom will
have a supervisory teacher who plays the Powerpoint and runs the experiment (passing
out and collecting pre and post-tests and mathematics achievement assessment).The
class period will be approximately 60 minutes. The Powerpoint video lecture portion of
the lesson will last 25 minutes in the standard group and 25 minutes 40 seconds in the
humor group.
Following the completion of the lesson, students will be given a brief, 10 item
mathematics assessment. Ten minutes at the beginning and end of the class will be
reserved for students to complete the AMAS (Hopko et al., 2003). The classrooms for
each group will be next door to each other and participants will attend the same
classroom at the same time that they would each day for Algebra 3 class for the sake of
consistency with their typical daily routine. Both groups will participate in the study at the
same time as one another to reduce effects of extraneous variables.
Statistical Analysis
Since mathematics anxiety will be measured using a pre and a post-test, but
mathematics achievement will only be assessed at the conclusion of the lesson, I will
use two separate analyses in order to process and analyze my data. Firstly, regarding
mathematics anxiety, I will use a repeated measures ANOVA statistics function in order
to analyze the data sets from the humor group and from the non-humor group. This will
help me to compare the mean differences in mathematics anxiety levels from the humor
group to the non-humor group. Additionally, within each group, it will help me to
compare the differences of levels in the pre-test as compared to the post-test of each
group for each participant. I predict there should be a greater mean difference between
the pre and post-test in the humor group than the non-humor group. That is, I expect
their math anxiety levels to have a more significant change and to be lower than the
non-humor group. I expect this to occur because I anticipate the humor stimulus to
cause a change in the participants' math anxiety measures that I don’t anticipate
occuring in the group without the humor stimulus. In the humor group, post
measurement, I expect their scores to be lower than the non-humor group.
Secondly, mathematics achievement will be analyzed using a separate ANOVA
function. This will tell the differences in the mean scores of each group on the
mathematics assessment and will help to determine if the group with humor learned
more than the group without it. After data is collected and analyzed, each of the two
ANOVA’s will be used to either reject or fail to reject the null hypotheses.
Present literature shows that mathematics anxiety has negative consequences
on students and their mathematics performance. Conversely, humor and laughter have
positive effects on students' motivation, confidence, and anxiety levels. A decrease in
general anxiety can be transferred to a decrease in mathematics anxiety. With all that
said, then hypothetically, using humor in the classroom should reduce students'
mathematics anxiety and increase their mathematics performance. While the literature
shows much research in the areas of mathematics anxiety, mathematics performance,
and humor, this study aims to further these areas. This study will make connections by
looking at the way these variables interact with one another through an experimental
based research project. The pre-test post test design will allow for comparing
mathematics scores and mathematics anxiety levels and comparing how they interact in
the humor group and the non-humor group. If my prediction that humor will decrease
mathematics anxiety and thus raise mathematics performance proves to be true, this
will open the door to a possible strategy to help students who face mathematics anxiety.
This study could be repeated and exposed to a larger population of participants to better
understand how humor influences mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance.
Additional experiments in this area would need to be conducted in order to fully
understand the way these variables interact with one another to best serve students in
the field of mathematics.

Appendix
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References
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MATHEMATICS ANXIETY AND HUMOR 1

Humor Effects on Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematics Achievement

Missouri Southern State University

HNRS 400: Research Seminar

Humor Effects on Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematics Achievement

explore the effectiveness of one strategy in relieving student mathematics anxiety

is available about mathematics anxiety. Research shows effects of mathematics anxiety

as humor and mathematics performance in the classroom when used as a method of

Mathematics anxiety, also known as a phobia of mathematics, affects students

students academically, socially, emotionally, and even physiologically (Lyons and

significance of the proposed experiment involves finding ways to ease student

researched. Mathematics anxiety is known to have negative effects on mathematics

general anxiety throughout research as a coping mechanism or way to relieve

purposes of relationships and classroom community more than as means of teaching

using humor as a method of teaching practice in the classroom, student mathematics

anxiety should be reduced and consequently, student mathematics performance should

important to establish what exactly this phenomenon is. Mathematics anxiety is

commonly defined as feelings of tension, apprehension, or fear related to working with

mathematical problems or manipulation of numbers (Tobias, 1993). While the feelings

anxiety is not a disorder that is officially diagnosed. Mathematics anxiety is a

Ashcraft (2002) argues that highly math-anxious individuals demonstrate characteristics

underperformance in mathematics competence due to lack of exposure. According to

Ashcraft (2002), mathematics anxiety notably differentiates mathematics anxiety from

or can be presented in combination with one another. While general anxiety is a

diagnosable disorder, mathematics anxiety is characterized more as people who

(1997) agree that mathematics anxiety in research can be defined as avoidance

mathematics in school or other settings. Supporting the notion regarding negative

performance on a standardized mathematics achievement test varies as a function of

and anxieties is resource demanding. It interferes with the working memory of

math-anxious individuals and lowers the capacity to concentrate on mathematics

problems. A study of a large sample of undergraduate students revealed that these

Prevalence of Mathematics Anxiety

According to Kennedy and Tipps (1998), an increasing number of studies are

students and adults alike across the globe.

Effects of Mathematics Anxiety

math, mathematics anxiety is shown to have many negative effects on students.

Mathematics anxiety has been negatively correlated with mathematics performance in

mathematical content (Meece et al.,1990). Working memory (Ashcraft and Krause,

(Maloney and Beilock, 2012).

In addition to struggles academically, students with high levels of math anxiety

form of neural response to mathematics.

History of Humor in Education

Historically, in the last decade, research on humor in educational settings has

retention and comprehension of content, humor as a method of relieving test or

mathematics anxiety, which is the aim of the present study.

Effects of Humor in Teaching

teaching effectiveness in terms of motivation, engagement, anxiety reduction,

stimulation of thoughts, interest in studies, and fostering positive teacher-student

engagement, teacher-student relationships, and teacher effectiveness overall (Shahid

(Shahid and Ghazal, 2019).

enhances student learning. Humor helps to maintain a teacher’s good reputation, to

build strong teacher-student relationships, and foster positive emotions towards a

the immediate effects of laughter on self-acceptance, anxiety, and anger by having

volunteer and anonymous participants watch a situational comedy show. The 17

present mathematics avoidant behaviors. In addition to simulated laughter, integrative

adding an integrative laughter therapy session to standard treatment in a day hospital

for individuals with addictive disorders yielded a greater improvement in self-esteem,

help reduce mathematics anxiety when used in schools.

study in particular focuses on how simulated laughter techniques can be easily

has effects on certain aspects of health, though further well-designed research is

2011). Regardless of whether laughter is stimulated or spontaneous, literature shows

Effective Use of Humor in the Classroom

effectively implement humor into education is by using it in a manner that is both