Investigating the relationship between mathematics motivation and mathematics anxiety in 4th grade primary students with and without a diagnosis of giftedness

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between mathematics motivation and mathematics anxiety in 4th grade primary school students who are diagnosed as gifted and those who are not, in terms of some variables. A descriptive and relational screening model was used in the study. The sample of the study consisted of 500 students, 250 of whom were diagnosed as gifted (SAC students) and 250 of whom were not diagnosed as gifted, selected from different regions of Turkey. The Mathematics Motivation Scale and the Mathematics Anxiety Scale were used as data collection instruments. As a result of the analyses, a significant negative relationship was found between mathematics anxiety and intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and total motivation, and a significant positive relationship was found between mathematics anxiety and motivation. In the regression analysis it was found that all motivation sub-dimensions predicted mathematics anxiety. There was no significant relationship between mathematics motivation and mathematics anxiety in 4th grade female students with and without giftedness. A significant negative relationship was found between mathematics anxiety and intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and total motivation in 4th grade male students with and without giftedness. A positive significant relationship was found between maths anxiety and motivation. When the results of the regression analysis were analyses, it was found that all motivation sub-dimensions predicted mathematics anxiety. A significant difference was found in the sub-dimensions of intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation of the participating students' mathematics motivation, but no significant difference was found in the sub-dimension of motivation. There was a significant difference between the mathematics anxiety levels of 4th grade students diagnosed as gifted and those not diagnosed as gifted.