Achievement Anxiety Test – AAT
Measures both facilitating anxiety (which motivates performance) and debilitating anxiety (which interferes with performance) in academic testing situations.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Achievement Anxiety Test – AAT was developed by Richard Alpert & Ralph Norman Haber (1960). It is designed to measure Academic Achievement Anxiety. The scale is intended for use with Students and adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 19 items organized into 2 factors/subscales: Facilitating Anxiety, Debilitating Anxiety.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Facilitating Anxiety | 2,6,8,9,10,12,15,16,18 | 9 |
| Debilitating Anxiety | 1,3,4,5,7,11,13,14,17,19 | 10 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Never / Almost never, 2 = Rarely / Hardly ever, 3 = Sometimes, 4 = Often / Usually, 5 = Always / Almost always.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 9 to 50. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Facilitating Anxiety: 9 – 22
- Moderate Facilitating Anxiety: 23 – 35
- High Facilitating Anxiety: 36 – 45
- Low Debilitating Anxiety: 10 – 23
- Moderate Debilitating Anxiety: 24 – 37
- High Debilitating Anxiety: 38 – 50
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of High test-retest reliability (0.83-0.87).
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.