Equal performance, but different levels of anxiety: An examination of sex differences in anxiety, working memory and mathematical performance in fifth grade of primary school

Little is known about sex differences in mathematical abilities at the end of primary school, a stage that is critical for the emergence of sex differences and for subsequent decisions on educational trajectories. The current study examined to what extent working memory and anxiety potentially contribute to sex differences in mathematical skills in 158 fifth graders aged 10–12 years. Children performed tasks measuring verbal and visual working memory. In addition, children filled in questionnaires assessing math anxiety (e.g. anxiety for solving particular problems and for specific situations at school) and assessing spatial anxiety (e.g. anxiety for spatial tasks tapping into navigation, measurement and geometry). We used a timed arithmetic test and scores obtained from the national school testing as indexes of mathematical skills. Our results showed that visual working memory uniquely contributed to arithmetic performance. Visual working memory and math anxiety uniquely contributed to national mathematical performance scores. Sex differences were found for math and spatial anxiety, but not for mathematical skills and working memory. The relation between sex and math anxiety was fully mediated by spatial anxiety. Interestingly, a reversed mediation indicated that math anxiety only partially mediated the relation between sex and spatial anxiety. Overall, our results indicate that although there are no sex differences in mathematical skills and working memory, sex differences in anxiety are already present in primary school. Furthermore, sex differences in math anxiety appear to be anchored in spatial anxiety highlighting the importance of effectively managing math and spatial anxiety.