I.Background of the StudyThe term Mathematical Anxiety resulted after the conduction of a comprehensiveresearch process worldwide showing that emotional difficulties affect mathematicallearning at all ages and levels of education. This concept was the result of a studyconducted by Dreger and Aiken who demonstrated that many University students showdiscomfort when they are asked to solve mathematical problems. The authors named thisfeeling “Anxiety to Numbers” and described it not as a type of generalized anxiety butrather as a sort of specific anxiety associated to calculus rules and other numericaloperations (Dos Santos & Morales, 2012). Once this problem was detected and the termMathematical Anxiety was accepted, several definitions were designed to describe it (Perez– Tyteca, Monje & Castro, 2013; Reali, Maldonado & Jimenez, 2015; Richardson &Suinn ,1972). Mathematical Anxiety is currently considered as an intensely negativeemotional reaction (characterized by tension, nervousness, fear, concern, doubt,irritability, impatience, confusion, and mental blockage) preventing students from findingsolutions to mathematical problems present in our daily life or at academic level. Thisfeeling contributes to the increase of a self-perception of incompetence to complete thiskind of tasks. The definition above states that mathematical anxiety is a special conditionresulting when personality factors (low self-esteem and fear of asking questions) arecombined with Mathematical anxiety and academic performance in mathematics3environmental (negative math learning experiences and negative attitudes of parentsand teachers) and intellectual situations (feeling of incompetence to learn mathematics,lack of understanding about the use of mathematical knowledge and deficiency in thecoordination between teaching styles of teachers and the learning strategies of students)(Jaggermauth & Jameson- Charles, 2010).
