Pain and Pleasure in Short Essay Writing: Factors Predicting University Students' Writing Anxiety and Writing Self-Efficacy

Since the inception of the Writing Across the Curriculum movement more than 30 years ago, scholars have explored ways of enhancing students writing performance. Faculty members across disciplines are often challenged by students resistance to writing; resistance that may stem from anxiety, poor academic performance, and lack of recognition that writing is important in their lives. To examine predictors of students writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy, 127 college students completed a pre- and post-assessment survey. Findings indicated that GPA and gender significantly affected writing anxiety, and leisure writing and writing anxiety were significant predictors of writing self-efficacy. Suggestions for future research and possible interventions for alleviating students writing anxiety and enhancing their writing self-efficacy and performance are provided. © 2011 International Reading Association, Inc.