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The effect of test anxiety on high-stakes exams: evidence from an RCT using biomarkers

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

E-pub ahead of print
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>3/09/2024
<mark>Journal</mark>Education Economics
Publication StatusE-pub ahead of print
Early online date3/09/24
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

We conduct a randomised control trial at an Italian university to investigate the impact of test anxiety on high-stakes exams. Students are subjected to two different interventions–silence and music–designed to influence their pre-test anxiety levels. We monitored and compared individual biomarkers before and after each treatment to measure anxiety changes and their influence on exam scores. Our findings revealed that decreased mean arterial and systolic pressures enhanced performance in females, particularly under the silence treatment. However, no significant effect was observed in male students. This study suggests that test anxiety could contribute to gender-based performance disparities.

Bibliographic note

Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.