The History of Testing Anxiety

Haven Pesce

The thesis examines the history of testing anxiety and the growth of its importance in society today. Testing anxiety is a condition or emotional reaction that hinders people from performing their best when put under pressure, and testing anxiety has become a bigger topic over the years. It is important to understand where the concept of testing anxiety came from and how much it has developed from something people disregarded to something a lot of students in society deal with and seek help for. In this thesis, testing anxiety was researched along with historical investigation into how the concept emerged over time. This thesis examines the use of the concept in 1945 to present. The earliest article that was found that mentioned testing anxiety dated back to 1945. Articles were searched in 10 year increments and each decade the number of articles increased significantly. The research on testing anxiety has grown dramatically over the years; there are far more articles and books during the present than during the early days of the concept.

• Haven Pesce graduated from Byrnes High School. She is a senior sociology major with a minor in biology. Her experiences include playing softball here at Lander; she plans to attend pharmacy school after graduation.