Math anxiety, math teaching anxiety, and math attitudes in primary school teachers: A multi-country study

Abstract

Math-related affective characteristics of primary school teachers are important for students’ mathematical emotions, attitudes, and achievements. However, many previous studies have been conducted with pre-service teachers, often involving small samples. To fill this gap, we tested 1153 primary school teachers in the U.K., Poland, Slovakia, Serbia, Türkiye, and Iran, to explore mean levels and correlates of math anxiety, math teaching anxiety, and math attitudes. We observed that, in general, teachers were characterized by low-to-moderate math anxiety and math teaching anxiety, and neutral-to-positive math attitudes. We also observed relationships between all the variables in accordance with expectations. Our study allows for a more systematic view on the domain-specific characteristics of primary school teachers across several countries. This represents an important step in understanding commonalities in math-specific emotions and attitudes among primary school teachers. Further to this, we provide insight into measurement considerations and discuss the importance of identifying and supporting future, and existing, teachers who experience anxiety in relation to math and the teaching of it. Beyond averages, the data indicated high math (teaching) anxiety and negative math attitudes among some teachers, representing a need to address this multi-nationally. © The Author(s) 2025