How growth mindset reduces math anxiety across cultures: Mediating roles of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in PISA 2022

Math anxiety poses a critical challenge to students' academic performance and emotional well-being, especially within mathematics education. Despite the established role of a growth mindset in mitigating such anxiety, few studies have systematically examined how this relationship varies across cultural contexts or is shaped by students' psychological needs. Drawing on large-scale data from PISA 2022 and guided by Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory, this study investigates how growth mindset influences math anxiety among 15-year-old students in the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. A multilevel mediation model was employed to test whether autonomy, competence, and relatedness mediate this relationship and whether cultural orientations-individualism versus collectivism-moderate the strength and structure of these pathways. Results revealed that while a growth mindset consistently predicts lower math anxiety across all four countries, the mediating mechanisms differ. Competence emerged as the most robust and universal mediator, whereas autonomy and relatedness showed culture-specific effects: autonomy played a more significant role in individualist cultures (UK), and relatedness was more influential in collectivist contexts (South Korea, Singapore). These findings offer novel empirical support for integrating motivational psychology with cultural frameworks, highlighting the need for culturally responsive interventions to reduce math anxiety. This study promotes cross-cultural educational psychology by identifying how psychological needs and cultural values jointly shape students' emotional experiences in academic settings.