The Subjective Experience of Reading: State Anxiety Measured After a Reading Task, General Self-Evaluation of Reading Skills and Reading Skill Measurement

This study investigated reading task-related state anxiety and general self-evaluation of reading skills among adults with low reading comprehension, comparing the results with those of participants with higher reading comprehension. All participants attended the lower-level educational system in Germany (N = 131). Standardized measures of reading comprehension, reading speed, and reading task-related state anxiety were collected. Additionally, participants provided a general evaluation of their level of reading comprehension and reading speed. After screening and due to missing data, the sample sizes varied across analyses (112 to 123). Participants with low reading comprehension showed somewhat lower general self-evaluations of reading skills when compared to typical readers. However, linear regression analysis indicated no group differences in reading task-related state anxiety, even after controlling for age and gender. Finally, we found moderate positive correlations between reading skills and general self-evaluations of these skills. However, reading task-related state anxiety was not significantly correlated with either. Taken together, in this sample, individuals with low reading comprehension did not show overly negative general self-evaluations of reading skills or associated reading task-related state anxiety. This suggests heterogeneity in affective and emotional dimensions related to reading that may be influenced by factors other than mere reading level.