Abstract
One hundred and fifty-eight college students completed questionnaires and tests that measure test anxiety, sleep habits, and self-perceived academic competency. It was hypothesized that test anxiety and irregular sleep patterns will lower college students' self-perceived academic competency.
The results showed that high test anxiety and poor sleep habits negatively affected students' self-perceived academic competency. It was also found that high self-perceived academic competency was positively correlated with GPA (a measure of performance). This study shows the need for further research that deals with the relationship between self-perceived academic competency and academic performance. This will enable professionals to look at another variable that affects academic performance in more detail.
Introduction
Self-perceived academic competency has been shown to be a significant contributor to the academic success of college students. Bandura (1986) defines self-perceived competency as "people's judgements of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performances" (p. 10). He also states that self-perceived academic competency does not deal with the skills that one has, but with the judgements that the individual makes about what they think they can do with the skills they possess. It has been found by Lee and Babko (1994) that when in a difficult situation such as a college-type test, a person with a strong sense of self-perceived academic competency will devote more attention and effort to the task at hand, therefore trying harder and persisting longer, than will those who have lower levels of self-perceived competency. Individuals with high self-perceived competency are more inclined to attribute failures to a lack of effort, whereas those with lower self-perceived competency tend to attribute failures to a lack of skill. Lee and Babko also noted that self-perceived competency is positively correlated with being in a positive mood, ability and past performances.
Self-perceived academic competency can be affected by a plethora of variables. In this study, the variables of test anxiety and sleep habits will be examined in relationship to college students' self-perceived academic competency.
Lewis (1970) defines anxiety as "an unpleasant emotion experienced as dread, scare, alarm, fright, trepidation, horror or panic" (p. 63). Test anxiety, then, is the debilitating experience of anxiety, as described by Lewis, during the preparation for a test or during the test itself. Although anxiety is often detrimental, it may be beneficial if it is not extreme. Simpson, Parker, and Harrison (1995) convey this with two well known principles of anxiety: "A minimal amount of anxiety" (an optimal amount is more accurate) "can mobilize human beings to respond rapidly and efficiently," while "excessive amounts of anxiety may foster poor response and sometimes inhibit response" (p. 700). Knox, Schacht, and Turner (1993) state that test anxiety can include performance anxiety and content (e.g., math) anxiety. Both of these make it hard for students to concentrate and perform adequately on tests. Knox, et al. (1993) also recognize the consequences of poorly managed test anxiety. "Failure to manage test anxiety can result in failing courses, dropping out of school, a negative self-concept and a low earning potential" (p. 295).
Research on test anxiety has identified three models that explain the origin of test anxiety: (1) The problem lies not in taking the test, but in preparing for the test. Kleijn, Van der Ploeg, and Topman (1994) have identified this as the learning-deficit model. According to this model, the student with high test anxiety tends to have or use inadequate learning or study skills while in the preparation stage of exam taking (Mealey & Host, 1992). (2) The second model is termed the interference model (Kleijn, et al., 1994). The problem for people in this model is that during tests, individuals with test anxiety focus on task-irrelevant stimuli which negatively effects their performance (Sarason, 1975). The attention diverted from the task-at-hand can be categorized into two areas, according to Sarason. The first type of distraction can be classified as physical and includes an increase in awareness of heightened autonomic activity (e.g., sweaty palms, muscle tension). The second type of distraction includes inappropriate cognitions, such as saying to oneself, "others are finishing before me, I must not know the material," or "I'm stupid, I won't pass." The presence of either of these two task-irrelevant cognitions will affect the quality of a student's performance. (3) The third model of test anxiety includes people who think they have prepared adequately for a test, but in reality, did not. These people question their abilities after the test, which creates anxiousness during the next test.
Sleep patterns are believed to be more irregular among college students, and irregular sleep patterns are believed to affect both self-perceived academic competency and academic performance. Sleep, therefore, seems to be an important factor in a college student's success and self-perceived ability. An optimal sleep pattern, as defined here, is one in which an individual goes to bed and wakes up at about the same time every day while allowing oneself to sleep an adequate amount of time in each of the five stages of the sleep cycle. The function of the body that keeps our sleep patterns in this constant waking and sleeping cycle is called the circadian rhythm. Our circadian rhythms must stay in a state of equilibrium (by going to bed and waking about the same time every day) to achieve our optimal sleep patterns. When our circadian rhythm is thrown off, it also affects our sleep cycle. During the night a person enters into and out of five different stages of sleep. The most important stage being REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. When the circadian rhythm of a person's sleep is thrown off, there is less time spent in REM sleep (Lahey, 1995). When people are deprived of REM sleep, they are more likely to experience irritability, inefficience and fatigue (Hobson, 1989; and Webb & Bonnet, 1979). Furthermore, it has been found to be more detrimental in terms of efficiency, irritability and fatigue when people switched from the day shift to the night shift rather than from the night shift to the day shift (Wilkinson, Allison, Feeney, & Kaminska, 1989). This is the phenomenon that is know as "jet lag" and is consistent with our natural tendency to lengthen our circadian rhythms. For example, one experiment demonstrated that participants' circadian rhythms continued even when they were isolated in constantly lighted chambers. However, their rhythms quickly changed to a twenty-five hour cycle (Aschoff, 1981; Horne, 1988). This phenomenon suggests that college students are particularly prone to sleep deprivation because college students are notorious for "cramming" information into their memories the night before a test. To do this, they stay up longer and wake up earlier than they usually would. The impact of sleep deprivation on academic performance is negative; consequently, it is hypothesized that students with poor sleep habits will have a lower level of self-perceived academic competency since each test is taken in a state marked by inefficient, irritable or fatigued thinking.
While there have been numerous studies on self-perceived competency and academic performance, on test anxiety and performance and on sleep and performance, there exists little direct information on the relationship among these variables taken together. It is believed that in our findings it will be shown that test anxiety and irregular sleep patterns will lower college students' self-perceived academic competency.
Methods
Participants
One hundred and fifty-eight college students participated in the study. There were 89 first and second year students, and 64 third and fourth year students. Among the participants, there were 67 males and 89 females. Demographic data obtained from the participants included gender, age, year in school, major, and their estimated current grade point average (GPA).
Instruments
The Test Attitude Inventory (TAI), created by Spielberger (1980), was used to measure test anxiety. The TAI subscales measure self-reported worry and emotionality. The TAI contains twenty items that are situation-specific to academically related test situations and environments. A five-point Likert Scale (five represented "usually" and one represented "never") was used to obtain the participants' responses.
To measure sleep habits, the Sleep Questionnaire constructed by Domino (1984) was used. The questionnaire contains fifty-four questions pertaining to various sleep, and related behaviors such as sleep latency, feelings of refreshedness after a nights sleep, and whether or not the person experienced disrupted nighttime sleep. The same five-point Likert Scale that was used for the TAI was used by this instrument as well. In addition, three closed-ended questions help reveal the approximate time of sleep-onset, the approximate time of awakening, and whether or not the participants take naps during the day. Domino did not report any specific reliability statistics, but he did mention that in three different samples, test-retest reliability seemed adequate.
The College Academic Self-efficacy Scale (CASES), created by Owen and Froman (1988), was administered to determine the degree of confidence participants believe they have in various academic settings (e.g., note-taking during class or using the library). A five-point Likert Scale was also used here, where five represented "a lot of confidence," and one represented "little confidence." This scale consists of thirty-three questions covering a wide variety of academic settings and situations that are pertinent to the studentŐs overall academic self-competency rating. Owen and Froman (1988) found the alpha internal consistency of the CASES, in two different trials, to be .9 and .92.
Procedure
Packets were prepared which contained a demographic data sheet, consent form, test anxiety inventory, CASES, and the sleep habits questionnaire, in that order. Next, professors in the selected classes were given information on the purpose of the study, shown the survey instruments, and told approximately how long it would take for students to complete the entire packet (20-30 minutes). We were invited to six different class meetings. The students were informed verbally that the purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between test anxiety, sleep habits, and self-perceived academic competency. The students were also informed that participation in the experiment was completely voluntary, and that their responses would be kept anonymous. The students who agreed to participate in the study signed a consent form. These students then proceeded to fill out the demographic data (gender, age, year in school, major, and estimated current grade point average) and then the four surveys. The participants were then thanked for their willingness to participate in the study.
Results
The mean score for test anxiety was 52.67 (out of a possible 100), with a high score of 95 and a low score of 24. In order to see if differences existed between people with high test anxiety and low test anxiety, the participants' test anxiety scores were divided into three levels (low, moderate, and high) and compared to the CASES using an ANOVA. Those people in the low test anxiety group scored 124.50 (a higher score indicates greater self-perceived academic competency) on the CASES. Those people in the moderate test anxiety group scored 113.75 on the CASES. Those people in the high test anxiety group scored 106.21 on the CASES. The p-value was found to be .001. This finding is represented in Figure 1.
It was also found that there were significant differences between test anxiety groups and GPA (a measure of performance). The low test anxiety group reported having a 3.29 GPA. The group that reported moderate anxiety had a 3.13 GPA. And, the group with high test anxiety reported having a 3.02 GPA. The p-value was found to be .05.
Similarly, the sleep scores were also divided into three groups (bad sleep, moderate sleep, and good sleep) for the purpose of comparing mean differences. The mean sleep score was 130.28 (out of 200), with a high score of 163 and a low score of 90. The lower sleep scores represent better sleep habits. The people in the bad sleep group scored 110.42 on the CASES. The moderate sleepers scored 114.98 on the CASES. And, the people in the good sleep group scored 119.33. This is represented in Figure 2.
Furthermore, grade point averages were significantly different depending on which sleep group the student was associated with. Students in the bad sleep group reported having a 3.02 GPA, while students in the moderate sleep group reported having a 3.11 GPA. Also, those students who fell into the good sleep group reported having a 3.31 GPA. The p-value was found to be .03.
Correlations were also figured for the following variables (also shown in Table 1): quality of sleep habits, test anxiety, self-perceived academic competency, and GPA. It was found that the quality of sleep habits and test anxiety were negatively correlated at the -.26 level (p-value of .001). The quality of sleep habits was also found to be positively correlated with self-perceived academic competency at the .19 level (p-value of .016). Additionally, it was found that the quality of sleep habits was positively correlated with GPA at the .18 level (p-value of .024). Test anxiety and self-perceived academic competency were negatively correlated at the -.41 level (p-value of .001). GPA and test anxiety were negatively correlated at the -.21 level (p- value of .01). Lastly, self-perceived academic competency and GPA were positively correlated at the .47 level (p-value of .001). This can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1
Correlations were calculated to find the relationship between the main variables in the study. The main variables included test anxiety, sleep habits, self-perceived academic competency and the students GPA.
| GPA | TA | CASES | Sleep | |
| GPA | 1.0 | |||
| TA | -.21** | 1.0 | ||
| CASES | .47*** | -.41*** | 1.0 | |
| Sleep | -.18* | .26*** | -.19* | 1.0 |
TA - Test Anxiety
* p < 0.05
** p < 0.01
*** p < 0.001
Discussion
The findings presented indicate that bad sleep habits and high test anxiety negatively affect self-perceived academic competency, as was hypothesized. Additionally, it was found that low self-perceived academic competency negatively affected students' GPA.
Quality of sleep habits was found to be a factor in self-perceived academic competence. If college students do experience REM sleep deprivation more than the average population, then the findings of this study need to be passed on to college students. The findings in this study suggest that college students with poor sleep habits may perceive themselves as having lower academic competency. The study also showed that self-perceived academic competency was positively correlated to academic performance. Thus, according to Hobson (1989), Webb & Bonnet (1979), and this study, those college students who do have poor sleep habits will negatively affect their academic performance.
It was also found that test anxiety and grade point average are negatively correlated, and that quality of sleep and grade point average are positively correlated. This, and the fact that quality of sleep and test anxiety are negatively related, suggest interrelationships among the variables test anxiety, sleep habits, self-perceived academic competency and academic performance. This highlights the fact that professors need to instruct their students on how to manage test anxiety. Students also need to be aware of the effects that poor sleep and low self-perceived academic competency have on academic performance. Thus, the phrase, "I think I can, I think I can . . ." may be beneficial only if students reduce their test anxiety and develop better sleep habits. More research needs to be done to find other variables that affect self-perceived academic competence.
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