SELF-CONCEPT, TEST ANXIETY AND ACADEMIC

ACHIEVEMENTOF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN

RELATION TO GENDER, LOCALE AND TYPE OF SCHOOL
SYNOPSIS OF THESIS
Submitted by
Sunita Devi
Registration No :AU21EDPhD0064

Under supervision of
Dr. Narbada Devi
&
Co-Supervison of
Dr. Neelam

In partial Fulfilment of the requirements For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

FACULTY OF EDUCATION, BASIC SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

ABHILASHI UNIVERSITY

CHAIL-CHOWK, MANDI (H.P.) – 175045

MARCH-2023
INTRODUCTION

Education not only provides us job and livelihood, but also develops our
personality. It shapes our character. It makes us mannered and cultured. It helps us to
stand on our own feet. It develops a feeling of self-reliance and self-confidence. It
inculcates the quality of leadership. It makes us gregarious and co-operative. It
promotes team spirit. It generates patience and leads us to perfection. It controls our
mind and heart leading to overall self-control. It takes us from darkness to light, from
untruth to truth and from wrong to right. It is the cornerstone of democracy and the
soul of an egalitarian society.The word Education has been derived from Latin word
'Educere which means to nourish'. Hence, Education strengthens the human resources
and for overall growth of our society, we do not have any magic before us except the
occasional magic of human mind, human capital, human resource and human
personality. Education not only develops human but humanity also. It plays a vital
role in sensitizing the youth human resources about the real socio-
economic development. Education is a lifelong and dynamic process. As the ages
have been changed, meaning and the aim of education have also been changed. In the
present scenario education is meant for all round development of personality i.e.
physical emotional, social, intellectual, spiritual, moral etc.Self-concept is one of the
important aspects of personality to which much attention is needed.

Concept of Self-Concept

Self-concept of a person can be defined as the picture an individual has of

himself/herself. It comprises the perceptions and attitudes the person holds. It also
includes tangible properties of the person and covers beliefs, convictions, values and
choices. The behaviour in any setting, including a learning creation, is influenced by
such perceptions, evaluations and attitudes. Self-concept of a person is considered as
an important parameter in the context of learning. If facilitates understanding a person
and motivation his or her performance in learning. Self-concept like motivation is a
major psychological factor operating within the individual which determines his
behavior. It has been found that self-concept and scholastic competence of the
children are closely related factors. Hence, it is essential to assess the self-concept of
the school activities, scholastic performance, degree of adaptive behavior, athletic
competence and the like were found to be influence by one's self perception. The
origin is the centre of all experiences which are taking place within the individual at a
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particular time. It represents the totality of his experiences both conscious and
unconscious. The self as a part of the phenomenal field can perhaps best be thought of
as the concept of I, Me or My self. When we recognize as the personality of an
individual is the product of interaction between inherited the tendency to develop their
self in the process of interpersonal and social experience which they acquire in the
environment. The development of self-concept depends upon the child's heredity
endowment and environment influence. A new born baby does not have a concept.
There is a great deal of research which shows that the self-concept possible selves that
create the motivation for behaviour. A student with a positive or high self-concept has
high self-esteem. High self-concept develops self-confidence and poor self-concept
hinders initial school adjustment and academic progress also. One's self-concept is
defined by their self-concept self -knowledge, self-esteem and social self. One's self-
concept is a collection of beliefs about oneself that includes elements such as
academic performance, gender roles and sexuality, racial identity, and many others.

Definition of Self-Concept

Rogers (1951) defined self-concept as "An organized configuration of

perceptions of the self which are admissible to awareness. It is compared of such
elements as the perceptions of one’s characteristics and abilities, the percepts and
concepts of the self in relation to others and to the environment, the value qualities
which are perceived as associates with experiences and objects and the goals and
ideas which an perceived as having positive or negative valence."

Self-concept has been referred by Lowe (1961) as one's attitudes towards self
and by Paderson (1965) as an organized configuration, of perceptions, beliefs,
feelings, attitudes and values which the individual views as a part of characteristics of
himself.

Allport (1961) has described "The self-concept is something of which we are

immediately aware we think of it as the warm, central private region of our life. As
such it plays a crucial part in our consciousness and personality.

Cooley (1964) views that man's ideas about himself are reflections of how
others see him. The self has also described as the nucleus of personality.

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 According to Pandit (1969)Self-concept is the nucleus around which the
entire personality structure revolves in its homeostatic process of maintaining
consistency and stability within the individual."

Saraswat andGau (1981) described self-concept as "The self-concept is the

individual way of looking at himself. It also signifies his way of thinking, feeling and
behaving."

In the light of above definitions, individual's self-concept is his picture of

himself. It is his view of himself as distinct from how he is viewed by other persons
on the basis of his behaviour. Self-concept is the mental and conceptual understanding
and persistent regard that a person holds for his own existence. Every person male or
female young or adult has certain perceptions and attitudes regarding his or her own
self. The behaviour in any setting, including a learning situation, is influenced by such
perceptions, evaluations and attitudes.

Factors Influencing Development of Self-Concept

The development of self-concept purely depends upon the familiar

relationship among the members. The better quality of life, happy family, proper
attention of parents towards children, parental adjustments, parental education etc.,
and mold children self-concept in a proper direction. Some factors influencing
development of self-concept are:

1. Physical Health: Health and vitality are essential for competency and good
performance in any field. Good physical health also leads to good mental
health. "A sound mind in a sound body" is a well-known saying the physical
and mental health increases the competency of the person, which has a
positive effect on the personality of the individual leading to the formation of
positive self-concept.
2. Intelligence: Intelligence plays a vital role in the progress and success of
individual. A more intelligent adolescent will show better progress he will get
appreciation from parents, teachers and others. Thus he will encouraged to do
better. His progress will be spectacular. This will go a long way in developing
in him a positive self-image.
3. Healthy Attitudes: Self-concept is significantly related to one's attitudes.
Some adolescents are optimistic or pessimistic by nature. An optimistic will

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 feel more secure and confident and will therefore crone to have a positive self-
concept. A pessimist will have the feeling of inferiority and self-pity and
therefore will have a negative self image. Hence, emphasis should be placed
on the formation of healthy and positive attitude.
4. Love and Affection: Love and affection are basic psychological needs of an
individual which must be fulfilled for the and formation of positive self-
concept and for the proper development of his personality. If an adolescent is
given love and affection, he feels secure and wanted. This helps in the
formation of positive self-concept which is very desirable for the future
happiness and progress of the adolescent.
5. Sense of Security: Sense of being secure has a positive effect in the
development of self-concept of adolescents. Lack of sense of security leads to
frustration which has a negative effect on the personality of the adolescent
hence, adolescent must be properly looked after to develop in him a feeling of
security. This will help in the formation of positive self-concept in him.
6. Appreciation and Encouragement: Appreciation and encouragement will
help adolescent in raising himself in self-esteem and therefore, he will have a
positive self-image. Punishment and rebuke discourage the adolescent; he will
lower himself in self-esteem, which results in negative self-concept.
7. Socio Economic Status of The Family: Adolescents belonging to higher
socio economic status of society are liable to have a more positive self-image,
because most of their needs are satisfied, and they have higher aspiration.
They feels themselves superior to others therefore, their self-concept is higher.
8. Anxiety: Anxiety is a unique problem that occurs throughout the study
process and can cause self-concept and academic performance to decline.
Extreme anxiety has a negative impact on a individual's mental and physical
health, as well as their overall personality development. It is necessary for
students to experience some anxiety throughout tests in order to stay focused
and to learn. Sleeplessness, headaches, upset stomach, lack of concentration,
change in appetite, and depression are some of the symptoms of anxiety in
students.

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Concept of Test Anxiety

The second part of the 20th century has been designated as the age of 'Stress'
age of Anxiety or more recently 'Age of Coping. While stress, anxiety and coping are
universal human experience, intrinsic to human condition, the nature of specific
environment stimuli evoking stress and anxiety emotions has changed remarkably
over the years, whereas, in ancient times, it may have been wild beasts, natural
catastrophes and like that seemed as major sources of apprehension and anxiety. In
our modern technological and achievement oriented society, stress and anxiety
evolved largely by social evaluative and ambiguous environmental situation. Too
much anxiety about a test is commonly referred to as test anxiety. It is natural to feel
some anxiety when preparing for and taking a test. A little anxiety can help in
studying as it can motivate individual to study. Too much anxiety interferes with
studying as too much anxiety blocks one's performance during the test situation.

Definitions of Test Anxiety

Zeidner (1998) defines Test anxiety as the set of phenomenological,

physiological, and behavioral responses that accompany concern about possible
negative consequences or poor performance on an examination or a similar evaluative
situation.

Test anxiety is a combination of physiological over-arousal, tension and

somatic symptoms, along with worry, dread, fear of failure, and catastrophizing, that
occur before or during test situations. It is a physiological condition in which people
experience extreme stress, anxiety, and discomfort during and/or before taking a test.
This anxiety creates significant barriers to learning and performance(Wikipedia)

Causes of Test Anxiety

Test Anxiety can develop due to a number of reasons. A few are:

1. Prior negative experiences.

2. Lack of preparation.
3. Poor time management.
4. Poor study habits.
5. Lack of organization.
6. Lack of confidence.

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 7. Fear of failure.
8. Negative thought processes.
9. The pressure to perform well on examination

Academic Achievement:

In the present education setup, the examinations play a predominant role in

assessing the talent of an individual. The main focus of education process is to
improve the performance of the students. The learning outcomes of the student's are
measured with the help of their academic achievement. Academic achievement may
be defined as mean of aggregate of marks secured by students in all subjects of
examination. Achievement is the core of educational growth and centre of educational
life. High achievement in school creates self esteem and self confidence in the child,
which leads to better adjustment in society and ultimately results in sound personality.

According to Freeman (1965) " A test of education achievement is one design to

asses ones understanding of skill on a specific subject or group of subject.

The study of academic achievement to students is of great significance, as the

efficiency or deficiency of a student’s is chiefly determined by quality of his
academic achievement. Academic achievement assured that child in making use of his
abilities. Achievement in itself has become a very strong symbol and way of life.
Although, it may not be essential that the whole course of life is determine by
achievement yet it is certainly directed by it. The justification of measuring academic
achievement is based on the fundamental assumption of psychology namely; there are
differences within the individual from time to time, from one class to another and
from one education level to another. Besides, there are individual differences among
individual of the same group, same grade and same potentialities and they differ in
their academic proficiency. Hence, arise the need for measuring academic
achievement. The performance of every individual is not equal. Many factors,
cognitive and non-cognitive affects the academic achievement including intelligence,
creativity, study habits motivation, home environment, anxiety etc.

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REVIEWS OF RELATED LITERATURE

Rehman, Javed and Abiodullah (2021) Steered a study entitled “Effect of

Test Anxiety on Academic Achievement at Secondary School Level in Lahore”.
Objective of this study was to explore the effects of test anxiety on student's academic
achievement at secondary school level in Lahore. A sample of 840 students from 30
schools was selected as sample from Lahore District. Finding of this study indicated a
negative relationship between Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement. Result
further showed that girls have higher Test Anxiety score as compared to boys.

Yadav (2021) conducteda study on a sample of 200 students of 11th class

selected from the four school of Rewari district of Haryana.The objective of the
study wasto study the emotional intelligence and self-concept of government and
private school students. The results revealed that the government school students as
well as the private school students have trustworthy emotional intelligence. The
government school students have high level of educational self-concept as compared
to the students of private school. Both the groups of students have significant
difference in some areas of self-concept and emotional intelligence.

Mishra and Panda (2021)did a study entitled “A Study on Examination

Anxiety among Secondary School students Balangir Municipality”. The objective of
this study was to compare the examination anxiety in the context of gender and area.
Stratified random sampling has been used for 100 students for this study. It was found
that there is a significant difference in examination anxiety of male and female
students. The area (Govt. and private school and English and Odia medium school)
also affected the examination anxiety of secondary school students.

Nawaz, Jahangir, Khizar, John, and Ilyas (2021)Conducted a study titled

“Impact of Anxiety on Self-esteem, Self-concept and Academic Achievement among
Adolescent”. The objective of this study was to study the moderating role of anxiety
with the relationship betweenself-esteem, self-concept and academic achievement
among adolescent.The results of this study showed that there is a positive relationship
between self-esteem,self-concept and anxiety among adolescents. The results also
displayed the influence of anxiety on relation between self-esteem and academic
achievement. A significant impact of anxiety was found on self-concept and academic

7
achievement. No significant difference was found in both male and female onanxiety.
However, self-esteem is high in females as compared to males.

Herrera, Mohamed and Mohamed (2020)Studied “Academic Achievement,

Self-Concept, Personality and Emotional Intelligence in Primary Education: Analysis
by Gender and Cultural Group’. The objective of this study is to analyze the academic
achievement, as well as the self-concept, personality and emotional intelligence,
according to gender and cultural origin of the participants and to identify what
dimensions of self-concept, personality and emotional intelligence predict academic
achievement. A sample of 407 students was taken. Significant differences were found
in self-concept, personality, and emotional intelligence according to gender. Further,
academic self-concept showed a greater predictive value. However, so did other
dimensions of self-concept, personality and emotional intelligence.

Gill (2020) Studied academic achievement of the senior secondary school

students in relation to their high and low level of anxiety. The sample for this study
was 264 senior secondary school students of Faridabad city of Haryana State. This
study indicates a negative and non- significant correlation between academic
achievement and anxiety among senior secondary school students.

Sawant(2020) Inhispaper titled“ A study of effect of Academic Anxiety on

AcademicAchievement of Higher Secondary School Students” tried to find out the
effect of Academic anxiety on academic achievementof higher secondary school
students.Results showed that there is significant effect of academic anxiety on
academic achievement of the students ofhigher secondary level students. Further, the
effect of higher academic anxiety of boys on academic achievement washigher than
the girls having higher academic anxiety. There was no significant difference on
academicachievement of the boys and girls having lower academic anxiety.

Barik and Barman (2019) Conducted a study entitled Test Anxiety and
Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in the District f
PaschimMedinipur, West Bengal. The objective of study were: (i) to study the level of
Test anxiety, (ii) to find out the difference between boys and girls students in respect
to their level of test anxiety, (iii) to find out the difference between urban and rural
school students in respect to their level of test anxiety and (iv) to find the difference
between urban boys and urban girls school students in respect to their level of test

8
anxiety. The sample for the study was 332 students who studied at Secondary level
from various Secondary School of PaschimMedinipur in West Bengal. The result of
this study explored that test anxiety of the students is being moderate in the District of
PaschimMedinipur, West Bengal at Secondary level. It was also found that test
anxiety has a negative impact on student’s life as when the level of test anxiety
increase, the academic performance of that person get decreased.

Alam and Halder (2018) studied “Test Anxiety and Adjustment among
Secondary Students”. The study was conducted to explore correlation between
adjustment and test anxiety among the secondary students with respect to their gender
and locality of the students of secondary schools affiliated to the West Bengal Board
of Secondary Education in DakshinDinajpur District, West Bengal. The study
explored a significant negative correlation between test anxiety and adjustment of the
secondary students.The study also revealed that there is statistically significant
negative correlation between test anxiety and adjustment of the male and female
students of secondary education. It was also found that there is statistically significant
negative correlation between test anxiety and adjustment of the urban and rural
students of secondary education with some exceptions.

Rahaman and Rana (2018) Conducted a study entitled, “Academic Anxiety

of Secondary School Students in Murshidabad District, West Bengal, India” with an
objective to compare the academic anxiety between male and female students of
secondary school. The study revealed that no significant difference has been found
between male and female secondary school students on the variable of academic
anxiety.

Sharma and Pandey (2017)Studied anxiety, depression, and stress in relation

to academic achievement among higher secondary school students. They aimed tofind
out the relationship among anxiety, stress, depression and academic achievements.
Sample was 120 students (60 boys & 60 girls) of 11th standard studying in
government schools located in rural area of Mahasamund district of Chhattisgarh
statethe study revealed a significant negative relationship between depression and,
anxiety for criterion variable academic achievement. Furthermore, stress and
academic achievement found to be significant positive association with each other. It

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is also concluded that mental health condition of the students affect academic
achievements.

Yeshpal (2017)Conducted a study entitled ‘Self-Concept, Temperamental

Characteristics, Anxiety and Academic Achievement of the Children Studying in
Government and Private Senior Secondary Schools of Gurgaon District –A
Comparative Study”. The objective of the study were: (i) To compare the self-concept
of the children (male and female) of Govt. and Private Secondary Schools students,
(ii) To compare the anxiety of the children (male and female) of Govt. and Private
Senior Secondary Schools and (iii) to identify the academic achievements of the
children (male and female) of Govt. and Private Senior Secondary Schools. The
sample of the study was 800 students of 11th and 12th classes out of which 400 were
boys and 400 were girls. Findings of this study revealed that self-concept of the girls
of private schools are better than the boys of private schools. Anxiety score was high
in case of the children of Government schools as compared to the children Private
Senior Secondary Schools. Academic achievements of the children of Private Senior
Secondary Schoolswerebetter than the students of Government schools.

Jaiswal and Choudhuri (2017) Conducted a study entitled “Academic Self

Concept and Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students”. The main
objectives of the study were: (i) to study the academic self-concept of secondary
school students. (ii) To study the relationship between academic self-concept and
academic achievement of secondary school students. (iii) To compare the Academic
self-concept of male and female secondary school students.The sample for the study
was 615 secondary school students of both genders (male 317, female 298, aged14-17
years). The result of the study revealed that there was positive relation between
academic self-concept and academic achievement and this relationship was stronger
for female students (r=0.28) than that of male students (r=0.17).Moreover, gender
difference in the Academic self-concept of the students was also found. Female
students had significantly higher academic self-concept than male students.

Lone and Lone (2016)Conducted a study on relation between self-concept

and academic achievement among secondary school students of Jammu district. The
objective of thisstudy was to study the relation between the self-concept and academic
achievement. A sample of 248 students was taken from the senior secondary schools

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of Jammu district. The findings of this study showed a significant relationship
between the self-concept and academic achievement.It was found that students having
high self-concept have higher academic achievement as compared to the students
having low self-concept.

Singh (2015) Studied relationship between self-concept and anxiety levels of

higher secondary students.The aim of this study was to examine therelationship
between self-concept and anxiety. It further studies the effects of location, gender and
stream of study on self-concept of higher secondarystudents. A sample of 800
students wasselected from different schools of Varanasi division. The study discloses
that high level of anxiety adversely affected a student's self-concept. Study revealed
that self-concept is not affected bylocation, gender and stream of the study.

Attri and Neelam (2013)conducted a study on “Academic Anxiety and

Achievement of Secondary School Students- a Study on Gender Differences” with an
objective to study academic anxiety of male and female secondary school
students.Study was conducted on a Sample of 200 students studying in class 10th
ofMandi Districts of Himachal Pradesh. The findings of this study revealed that there
exist significant differences in academic anxiety and academic achievement of male
and female secondary school students. Girls found to be more academically anxious
and had better academic achievement than boys.

Neelam (2013) Conducted study entitled ‘Academic Achievement of

Secondary School students having Differential Levels of Academic Anxiety’ It was
hypothesized that there exists a significant difference in academic achievement of
secondary school learners having differential level i.e. high, moderate and low level
of Academic Anxiety. For verification of the hypotheses, the data were collected by
administering ‘Academic Anxiety Scale for Children (AASC) on 200 secondary
school students of Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh. The statistical technique used
was one way ANOVA. The findings of this study revealed that the academic anxiety
and academic achievement both are highly correlated to each other. High academic
anxiety results in low academic achievement and vice-versa. It was also found that the
academic achievement of girls were better than boys.

Bhat (2013) Conducted a study entitled “Academic Achievement of

Secondary School Students In Relation To Self Concept and Parental

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Encouragement”. The objective of the study was to check the relationship between
the self-concept and Academic Achievement of Secondary School male as well as
female students. The sample for the study was 228 students. The finding of study
revealed that there is significant relationship between the self-concept and academic
achievement of male and female students.

Kumari and Chamundeswari (2013)In their study entitled “Self-Concept

and Academic Achievement of Students at the Higher Secondary Level” revealed that
students belonging to central board schools were better in their self-concept and
academic achievement as compared to students from other boards. The study also
showed a significant and positive relationship between self-concept and academic
achievement of students at the higher secondary level.

Ghazvini (2011) Studied relationships between academic self-concept and

academic performance in high school students. The purpose of this investigation was
to determine the relationship between the academic self-concept and academic
performance. A sample of 363 students from 10 high schools was chosen by using
multistage cluster sampling method. The research finding displayed a close
associationbetween academic self-concept and academic performance. Academic self-
concept strongly and positively predictsgeneral performance.

Ali, Javad, Mohammad-Karim and Hamid (2007) Studied relationship

between Self-Concept, Self-esteem, Anxiety, Depression and Academic Achievement
in Adolescents. Results of this study showed a rational association between self-
concept and self-esteem. Itmeans self-esteem will increase in as much as self-concept
increase. Further, a negative significant relation was found between self-concept and
anxiety and depression.

NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Education plays a significant role in personality development. It fortifies an

individual with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need to achieve succeed in
life. It is education which teaches individuals to think critically and make conversant
decisions. Moreover, education helps people to develop positive relationships with
each-others. These factors significantly contribute to an individual’s wholesome

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personality development. Self-concept is one of the important aspects of personality.
Self-Concept means how an individual thinks about oneself and these thinking are
based on their habits, skills, and attitude. It is the ability to reveal on one’s own
characteristics. A positive self-concept is a strong predictor of good mental health and
general wellbeing as well. A healthy self-concept is attributed to one’s ability to attain
optimistic results in spite of challenging experiences. It comprises one’s views about
their personality, physical appearance, capabilities, morals, ethics, and goals. It is a
self-image of an individual. It has been noticed that self-concept is directly
interrelated to educational outcomes.

Different components of self-concept are physical, academic, social, and

transpersonal. The physical aspect of self-concept is related to one’s physical traits i.e.
gender, height, weight, personality etc. Academic self-concept is related with the
learning abilities and achievements. The social self-concept explains how one is
relating to other people and lastly the transpersonal self-concept describes the
experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond the individual to
comprehend broader aspects of humankind, life, psyche or universe. Positive self-
concept helps to achieve good academic achievement, enhanced learning, develop
personal and social abilities, coping skills, improved societal interaction and overall
happiness. Teachers, administrators and parents need to work together for developing
healthy self-concepts among students. Individual’s self-concept can get affected by
age, gender, religion, academic achievements and many more related aspects.
Academic achievement is strongly influenced by intelligence, creativity, study habits,
motivation and anxiety. In this era of tough competition, everyone wants to get
excellence in their life. Along with the desire of excellence, competition has caused
stress and anxiety among students. The stress and test anxiety affects the students’
performance in academics and general life as well which further leads towards the
poor health. Students having poor self-concept and high level of anxiety sometimes
develop some psychological problems and sometimes they even commit suicide.
According to National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB’s) Accidental Deaths &
Suicides in India (ADSI) report 2021, Over 13,000 students died by in 2021 in
India at the rate of more than 35 every day with a rise of 4.5% from the 12,526 deaths
in 2020 with 864 out of 10,732 suicides being due to "failure in examination". These
stats are disturbing. Education must be for the all-round development of child not for

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putting overburden and stress. The present study is an attempt to study the level of
self-concept, test anxiety and academic achievement of secondary school students in
relation to gender, locale and type of school. Also, the relationship will be studied
between self-concept and test anxiety. The results and conclusions of present study
will add knowledge to the existing literature with respect to India. Further, significant
suggestions will be made for parents, teachers, institutions, psychologists and higher
authorities regarding the minimization of stress and anxiety. Thus, the present study
is purely significant and deserving of the attention it has gain.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Self-Concept, Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement of Secondary School

Students in Relation to Gender, Locale and Type of School

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Keeping in view the statement of the problem and by reviewing the related literature
the researcher has framed the following objectives:

1. To study the self –concept of Secondary School Students

2. To study Test –Anxiety among Secondary School Students
3. To study Academic Achievement.
4. To study the Self-Concept of secondary school students with regard to:
 Gender
 Locale
 Type of school

5. To study the interaction effect of:

 Gender and Locale
 Gender and Type of School
 Locale and Type of School
 Gender, Locale and Type of School

with regard to Self-Concept of secondary school students.

6. To study the Test Anxiety among secondary school students with regard to:
 Gender
 Locale
 Type of school

7. To study the interaction effect of:

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  Gender and Locale
 Gender and Type of School
 Locale and Type of School
 Gender, Locale and Type of School

with regard to Test-Anxiety of secondary school students.

8. To study the Academic Achievement of secondary school students with
regard to:
 Gender
 Locale
 Type of school
9. To study the interaction effect of:
 Gender and Locale
 Gender and Type of School
 Locale and Type of School
 Gender, Locale and Type of School

with regard to Academic Achievement of secondary school students.

10. To study the relationship between Self-Concept and Test-Anxiety among
secondary school students.
11. To study the relationship betweenSelf-Concept and Academic Achievement of
secondary school students.
12. To study the relationship betweenTest Anxiety and Academic Achievement of
secondary school students.

HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY:

In order to achieve the objective of the present study following hypothesis will be
formulated:
1. There will be no significant difference in the Self-Concept of secondary
school students with regard to:
 Gender
 Locale
 Type of school
2. There will be no significant interaction between
 Gender and Locale
 Gender and Type of School
 Locale and Type of School
 Gender, Locale and Type of School
with regard to Self-Concept of secondary school students.
3. There will be no significant differences in the Test- Anxiety among secondary
school students with regard to:
 Gender

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  Locale
 Type of school
4. There will be no significant interaction between
 Gender and Locale
 Gender and Type of School
 Locale and Type of School
 Gender, Locale and Type of School

with regard to Test-Anxiety among secondary school students

5. There will be no significant difference in the Academic-Achievement of

secondary school students with regard to:
 Gender
 Locale
 Type of school

6. There will be no significant interaction between

 Gender and Locale
 Gender and Type of School
 Locale and Type of School
 Gender, Locale and Type of School
with regard to Academic-Achievementof secondary school students.

7. There will be no significant relationship between Self-Concept and Test-

Anxiety among secondary school students.
8. There will be no significant relationship between Self-Concept and Academic
Achievementof secondary school students.
9. There will be no significant relationship between Test Anxiety and Academic
Achievementof secondary school students.

DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study will be delimited to following aspects.

 Self-Concept, Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement of Secondary school

students will be taken as dependent variables. The independent variables in
this study will be Gender, Locale and Type of School.
 The study will be restricted to secondary school students studying in class 9th
of government and private secondary schools affiliated to Himachal Pradesh
Board of School Education, Dharamshala.
 The study will be restricted to four districts (Kangra, Mandi, Chamba and
Shimla) of Himachal Pradesh.

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  Survey method under descriptive research will be used.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF THE KEY TERMS USED

1. Self-Concept:Self-conceptrefers to a collection of beliefs of an individual
about oneself.
2. Test Anxiety: Test anxiety is a type of performance anxiety. Here, it refers to
a combination of physical symptoms and emotional reactions of students
which interfere with their ability to perform well in academics, examinations
or tests.
3. Academic Achievement:Academic Achievement here refers to the marks of
sampled students in their previous examination
4. Secondary School Students: The students, who are studying in class 9th and
10th of government and private secondary schools affiliated to Himachal
Pradesh Board of School Education, Dharmshala will be operationally termed
as Secondary School students.
5. Gender: Gender means whether the students taken in study are boy or girl.
6. Locale: Locale means whether the students taken in study belong to rural or
urban area.
7. Type of School: Type of school means that either the school is run by
governments or by private body.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In the present study, survey method under descriptive research will be followed.

SAMPLING

For the accomplishment of present study, Multistage sampling technique will be

used.Investigator will follow the mentioned stages.

First stage

In the first stage the 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh will be ordered from rank 1 to
rank 12 depending upon the enrolment of students of class IX and X in schools under
Department of Educationin each district(Source: U-DISE (Unified District

17
Information System for Education), Himachal Pradesh (Collected as on 30th
September, 2019).Four districts will be selected by following Systematic sampling.

Second stage

In the second stage, a list of educational blocks existing in selected districts will be
prepared and educational blocks will be selected by employing random sampling
technique.

Third stage

At the third stage, a list of secondary schools in each sampled educational block will
be framed and schools will be selected by applying convenient sampling.

Fourth stage

In the last stage, researcher will apply quota sampling to get the final sample.

By following above mentioned steps, a sample of 1000 secondary school students of

9th class who are studying in government and private schools affiliated to Himachal
Pradesh Board of School Education, Dharmshala will be collected.

VARIABLES OF THE STUDY

Independent Variables

 Gender
 Locale
 Type of School
Dependent Variable

 Self-Concept
 Test Anxiety
 Academic Achievement

RESEARCH TOOL TO BE USED

1. Test-Anxiety Scale will be developed by investigator herself.

2. Self- Concept Rating Scale byDr. (Mrs.) PratibhaDeo (1998).

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RESEARCH LAYOUT

In the present study 2x2x2 factorial design was used to analyse the main and
interaction effects of independent variables (Gender, Locale and Type of School) on
Self-Concept, Test Anxiety and Academic Achievement of Secondary school
students.

Table- 1
Layout of the 2×2×2 Factorial Design
(Gender Locale and Type of school)

(Score on dependent variable)

(Self-Concept score for eight groups)

Table- 2
Layout of the 2×2×2 Factorial Design
Gender Locale and Type of school

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 (Score on dependent variable)
(Test Anxiety score for eight groups)

Table- 3
Layout of the 2×2×2 Factorial Design
Gender Locale and Type of school

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 (Score on dependent variable)
(Academic Achievement score for eight groups)

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

The following statistical techniques will be used for analysis of the data gathered.

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  Mean will be used to describe the average of whole score of sampled data.
 The standard deviationwill be used to measure the variability of scores.
 Pearson’s coefficient of correlation will be used to find out the relationship of
the variables.
 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) will be used to test the significances among
more than two means.

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