HOW DOES EXPRESSIVE WRITING INFLUENCE UNDERGRADUATE TEST ANXIETY AND TEST PERFORMANCE?

The purpose of this investigation was to replicate and extend prior research on the impact of expressive writing on test anxiety and test performance. Participants (n = 47) were undergraduate students at a Midwestern state university recruited from two sections of an undergraduate educational psychology course. Group 1 (n = 23) was given a control writing prompt and Group 2 (n = 24) was given a expressive writing prompt immediately before taking the second course test. Then each group was given whichever of the control writing and the expressive writing prompt they had not received before taking the third course test. The Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale (CTAS) was administered twice, first during the 2 weeks before the first course test and then again during the 2 weeks before the fourth course test. Results indicated a decrease in test anxiety, yet no significant difference in test performance, after participating in expressive writing.