Exploring the Effect of Coloring Mandalas on Students’ Math Anxiety in Business Statistics Courses

Abstract

Purpose – the purpose of this article is to review a quasi-experiment study examining whether business students’ math anxiety is reduced after participating in mandala coloring activities. Research methodology – the research methodology integrated quantitative methods including independent t-tests and ANOVAs in a non-random convenient sample of 106 undergraduate students in 2018 in Texas, United States. Findings – results from the one-way ANOVA and t-test analyses revealed that anxiety levels differed across groups, such that after coloring a pre-drawn mandala, math anxiety was significantly reduced in comparison to the control (doodling) group. Paired sample t tests also demonstrated that when comparing the anxiety levels at the baseline and post-treatment, math anxiety was reduced after performing both the pre-drawn and free-coloring mandala activities. Additionally, an independent sample t-test and a two-by-two factorial ANOVA demonstrated that males experienced a significant reduction in their math anxiety than the females did after performing the mandala coloring activity. Research limitations – the study used a convenient sample, self-reported items, and a math anxiety measurement. Also, the findings found short-term evidence of math anxiety. Practical implications – the findings of this study suggest that business statistics instructors who integrate a mandala coloring activity in anxiety-provoking undertakings may help to reduce their students’ math anxiety. Originality/Value – This study is the first to investigate mandala coloring to reduce math anxiety in business students. Unlike previous studies that focus on anxiety in general, this study examines the benefit of mandala coloring on students’ math anxiety.

The effect of mandala colouring on anxiety in hospitalized COVID‐19 patients: A randomized controlled clinical trial

“…2020; Koo et al . 2020; Lee 2018; Salazar 2019). A study by Curry & Kasser showed significantly lower levels of anxiety in a group of students who painted mandalas (Curry & Kasser 2005).…”

Effect of Mandala Art on Psychological Wellbeing among Physiotherapy Undergraduates of Age 18-22 Years

“…Mandala art practices are useful because they enable people to convey their inner contradictory feelings and psychological distress through the use of symbols that are often difficult to express verbally supporting Jung's psychoanalytic theory (Henderson, Rosen, & Mascaro, 2007;Jung, 1973). Furthermore, some studies indicate that coloring Mandalas improves mindfulness, endorsing the mindfulness approach, which encourages people to pay attention and concentrate on the present moment, which is useful in cognitive-based activities and educational settings (Carsley, Heath, & Fajnerova, 2015; Chen et al, 2019; Potash, Yun Chen, & Yan Tsang, 2016) (12) .…”

Interventions to address mathematics anxiety: An overview and recommendations

“…Using mindful, diaphragmatic breathing and training individuals to refocus their attention, they found performance of high maths anxious students approached that of those low in MA. Salazar [44] observed a positive effect of colouring mandalas on MA. A group of undergraduate students were instructed to colour in mandalas (either structured or unstructured drawings), whereas a control group was instructed to simply doodle.…”