Cross-cultural and familial differences between Arab and Jewish adolescents in test anxiety

This study examined differences between Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Jewish adolescents in perception of family environment and its relation to test anxiety and trait anxiety. Data were collected from 759 10th and 11th graders (ages 16-17), living in a city in northern Israel, of whom 427 were Arabs (220 boys, 207 girls) and 332 were Jews (150 boys, 182 girls). Participants completed the Family Environment Scale, the Test Anxiety Questionnaire and the Trait Anxiety Inventory. Findings indicated that Arab adolescents were more test anxious and perceived their family environment as more authoritarian than their Jewish counterparts. In addition, test and trait anxiety were negatively correlated with a supportive family environment and positively correlated with an authoritarian one.