Learning under stress: The moderating role of future time perspective

We investigated the relationship between students' perceived
stress and investment in learning and tested the role of future
time perspective (FTP) as a moderator. We expected that FTP
would serve as a protective factor in the association between
students' perceived stress and investment in learning. Perceived stress was gauged by assessing students' mathematics
anxiety related to class, learning, and tests, and investment in
learning was gauged by measuring investment in learning with
respect to mathematics. To measure FTP, we focused on the
FTP in school and professional career. A total of N = 349
secondary school students from the Netherlands participated
in this study. Results revealed negative associations between
students' investment in learning and their anxiety in class,
during learning, and while taking tests. The moderating effects
of FTP were also found to be significant. Contrary to our expectations, higher levels of FTP were associated with a
stronger negative relationship between anxiety and investment
in learning. Moreover, we found negative associations between
FTP and class anxiety and learning anxiety and a positive association between FTP and investment in learning. Overall, our
results may suggest that FTP motivates students to learn, but
students' anxiety weakens the motivating effect of FTP