Competition, social and personal demands, and the possibility of failure are all factors that might turn examination situations into stressful and anxiety-inducing events. The purpose of the present study was to provide two Brazilian assessment instruments of anxiety in examination contexts and to demonstrate evidence of their validity. A sample of 1,878 high school students from public and private schools in Brasilia participated in this study. Two instruments of anxiety were developed: the Testing Anxiety Inventory (IAP) measuring four anxiety dimensions, and the IAIEC assessing internally and externally caused anxiety. The findings indicate that both instruments have an adequate factor structure and a good internal consistency. Moreover, correlational analysis with other instruments of anxiety suggests evidence of an adequate convergent validity with correlations varying between .31 and .72. The implications of the present study are noteworthy in clinical, social and academic contexts.
Anxiety; Test situations; Performance; Selection test
