Future Selves and Test Anxiety in Higher Education

Future Selves and Test Anxiety in Higher Education Future Selves Markus & Nurius, 1987 • What students hope to accomplish, who they would like to become • Embedded in society and social interaction: • Referring to social categories (e. g. referring to psychology as a discipline) • Built on past social reinforcement (e. g. having been told one could become a psychologist) “Strength” of Future Selves differs among first year students (some see the full picture of becoming a psychologist, the FS of other students is less clear, more distal, less extensive…) FSs have not yet been verified, confirmed or validated by social experiences. Therefore, FSs are vulnerable and highly dependent upon gradually shaped social (dis)confirmation by others. Hypotheses First year higher education students hardly receive any social (dis)confirmation about the ‘validity’ of their FS. Under these circumstances, it was hypothesized that Test-Anxiety in Higher Education is an inverse function of the strength of students’ FS a direct function of imagining others (dis)confirming students’ FS Design 181 First year KU Leuven students writing 15 min. about their FS 67 item-questionnaire “the ‘strength’ of your FS” e. g. I have a clear idea of my future as psychologist 10 item- questionnaire “imagining others (dis)confirming your FS” Test announcement e. g. I wonder whether others consider me a (future) psychologist 8 -item Test-Anxiety questionnaire e. g. I will feel tense when I will take the test Results Implications for reducing TA in HE Strengthen students’ FS Mieke. Clement@kuleuven. be Herman. Buelens@kuleuven. be Provide social experiences that (dis)confirm students’ FS Educational Research Unit Naamsestraat 98 B-3000 Leuven (Belgium)