Influence of Self Concept and Anxiety on the Academic Excellence of Undergraduate Students
Manasseh N. Iroegbu *
Department of Psychology, University of Uyo, Nigeria
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The focus of this study was on the influence of Self Concept and Anxiety on the Academic Excellence of Undergraduate Students. 190 students were randomly selected in the process of simple random sampling for the study. The scales used for the measurement of Self Concept and Anxiety were [1] self esteem scale and [2] test Anxiety Scale. A 2x2 factorial design was adopted while a two way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for unequal sample sizes was used for data analysis. The results showed that Anxiety had a significant influence on the academic excellence of the students, i.e. students with low anxiety performed better than those with high anxiety [F (1,189) = 19.22, p<.05]. Self Concept of students did not have any significant influence on the academic excellence of the students [F (1,189) = 0.66, p>.05]. Likewise, there was no significant interaction of self concept and anxiety on academic excellence of the students [F (1,189) = 0.1, p>.05]. There is an imperative need to use psychological techniques to calm students down and deal with anxiety before any examination in order to guarantee reliable results.
Keywords: Academic performance, self concept, self esteem, anxiety