Convergent and Divergent Thinking,Test-Anxiety,and Curiosity

Interrelationships between two motivational variables, test-anxiety and curiosity, and two cognitive variables, convergent and divergent thinking were tested using the measures of convergent and divergent thinking of J. P. Guilford and two self-report true-false scales of test-anxiety and curiosity. Ss were 212 undergraduates, 175 female and thirty-seven male. Based on findings and implications from earlier research, negative relationships of convergent and divergent thinking with test-anxiety, and positive relationships with curiosity were predicted. All correlations for the total group were found to be significant at the .05 level, those with anxiety higher than those with curiosity. Thus, there was support for the view that test-anxiety is negatively related and curiosity positively related to both convergent and divergent thinking. The results were discussed in terms of previous research, and educational implications.