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.