Mindfulness and test anxiety in college students

This study is designed to look at the relationship between test anxiety and mindfulness. This study consists of three surveys designed to look at different aspects of mindfulness and test anxiety. The Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) is designed to determine to what degree a student has test anxiety. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) is designed to measure an individual’s level of mindfulness in five different facets. The White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI) is designed to measure how much individuals suppress their thoughts. A Pearson Correlation was used to look for significant relationships between the TAI, the FFMQ, and the WBSI with results being considered significant at the .05 level. The first hypothesis predicted there would be a negative relationship between the Test Anxiety Inventory and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. A significant relationship was found between them (r = -.347, p = .033). The second hypothesis predicted there would be a positive relationship between the Test Anxiety Inventory’s Emotionality component and the White Bear Suppression Inventory. There was no significant relationship found. The third hypothesis predicted there would be a negative relationship between the Test Anxiety Inventory’s Worry component and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire’s Nonjudging of Inner Experience and Nonreactivity of Inner Experience. A significant relationship found at the .05 level (r = -.368, p = .023) for the Nonjudging of Inner experience. There was no significant relationship found between the Test Anxiety Inventory’s Worry component and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire’s Nonreactivity of Inner Experience. The results show a possible new direction on research to help students with test anxiety.