A STUDY OF ANXIETY IN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS: THE EFFECTS OF SOCIALIZATION AND GPA
A study was conducted to determine the effects on the level of anxiety among a university student population of (1) the degree of socialization, (2) a student's cumulative grade point average (GPA), and (3) whether the student had employment during the school year. Anxiety is a factor identified in the literature as a major problem among college age subjects (Dixon, 1991, pp. 51 56). Socialization has been found to aid subjects in the coping process (Jorgensen and Dusek, 1990, pp. 503 513). A subject's GPA has been found to affect perceptions of insecurity (Frank, 1990, pp. 571 588). Holding a job while attending school has also been implicated as a cause of anxiety. The study was performed at California State University, Fresno in the spring of 1992.
Data for the study were collected from a sample of 56 students at California State University, Fresno. The students ranged in age from 18 years old to 55 years old. Subjects were selected for the sample through the application of random procedures.
It was hypothesized that the degree of socialization that characterizes a subject's behavior and the subject's cumulative GPA would both be negatively correlated with a subject's level of anxiety. It was further hypothesized that a subject's level of anxiety would be higher if the subject had employment during the school year than if the subject had no such employment.
Data were collected through the administration of a survey questionnaire denoted for this research as "Survey.TXT." The first part of the Survey.TXT generated data relative to the subjects' work characteristics, GPA, and degree of socialization. This part of the Survey.TXT was self reporting in character. Data provided by the subjects with respect to these variables were accepted as fact by the researcher. The second part of the Survey.TXT was a modified version of the Ta...