Brooke Istas: Literature Review of Adult Mathematics Anxiety in the United States

Students who have a higher level of mathematics anxiety seem to perceive mathematics as a negative experience. What key features of adults are influenced by their own mathematics anxiety and/or mathematics avoidance? By using eleven peer-reviewed studies, within the last five years, to synthesize literature on adults in the United States, two themes appear. The first theme is situated around a student's perception of mathematics. Students who have a higher level of mathematics anxiety seem to perceive mathematics as a negative experience. The second theme centers around the impact of stress on a student who is learning mathematics. A few of the studies did indicate a correlation between the higher the level of stress to more mathematics anxiety was reported. One of the studies used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure stress on the brain. This review will look at these studies for understanding of the current research on mathematics anxiety and identify areas for further research.