Test Anxiety in University Students: Exploring the Roles of Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Test anxiety is the fear of being negatively evaluated, which can lead to negative behavioral, physiological, or emotional responses and impact academic performance. The effectiveness of interventions varies widely; however, progressive muscle relaxation may be able to reduce anxiety. The current study randomly assigned students to watch a progressive muscle relaxation video or an educational video before an exam in an introductory psychology course. Self-report and physiological anxiety were measured pre-and post-intervention, and traits of test anxiety, neuroticism, and conscientiousness were also measured (pre-intervention only). Conscientiousness and neuroticism did not predict trait anxiety (p = .052). Pre-intervention self-report anxiety was predictive of trait anxiety (p < .001), but heart rate was not (p= .948). The intervention reduced self-report anxiety (p = .047) but did not affect heart rate (p = .303). Results suggest heart rate may not be a good measure of physiological anxiety and that progressive muscle relaxation may be an easy intervention to reduce student anxiety before exams. These findings help to further the knowledge of test anxiety in college students and interventions that could be used to reduce its negative effects. Keywords: test anxiety, progressive muscle relaxation, neuroticism, conscientiousness