Testophobia is the intense and persistent fear of exams. It is a specific, situational phobia related to the negative experience of being tested. Although the phobia usually begins in early adulthood, it can also be generated during childhood, since it is a common fear in our current societies.

Next we’ll look in more detail at what testophobia is , what some of its causes are and how it can be treated.

Testophobia: fear of exams

The term testophobia takes up on the one hand the word “test”, which in English means “trial” or “examination”, and on the other hand the word “phobia”, which comes from the Greek “fobos” (“fear”). Thus, “testophobia” means fear of exams and assessment tests .

Testophobia is not recognized as a particular clinical picture by specialists in psychology and psychiatry. However, the term is often found in the colloquial literature to describe the experience of persistent fear of evaluations.

In this sense, testophobia could be considered a specific phobia . Specific phobias, on the other hand, are characterized by an intense and persistent, excessive or irrational fear, which is triggered by the presence or anticipation of specific objects or situations (Bados, 2005). Such objects or situations may range from animals to the need to take an exam, as is the case here.

Likewise, specific phobias can be situational, when the fear is induced by specific situations. In that case, it would be situations related to the application of tests. On the other hand, test phobia is related to social phobia, as it involves the persistent fear of situations that involve exposure to the assessment of others.

That is, although the application of tests and exams is in itself a potentially stress-generating situation ; testophobia occurs when such a situation is experienced with a fear that exceeds rational justification and that generates a series of behaviours and physiological reactions linked to anxiety. This irrationality of fear is even recognized by the person who experiences it.

Symptoms

As we have said, testophobia can be characterized by the presence of physiological reactions associated with states of anxiety , triggered by situations involving the application of an exam (which can be in the school context, but also in the sports or recreational context, or any related to high performance, success-failure logic and competition). The latter is a situation that is perceived as harmful, which causes the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and generates a series of involuntary motor reactions.

Such reactions are, for example, tachycardia, palpitations, increased blood pressure, choking sensation, dizziness , sweating, decreased gastrointestinal activity, etc. In addition, while an anxiety response is immediately triggered, specific phobias often lead to panic attacks.

As with other phobias, the phobia can generate other secondary behaviors, which, like the experience of anxiety, are not easily observed, but have a negative impact on the daily activities of those who experience them.

These are, for example, fears related to everything around presenting some evidence , or may also include behaviors such as avoidance of the same circumstance, since otherwise they are experienced as intense discomfort.

Similarly, testophobia can be one of the most complex and profound manifestations of anxiety disorders or other types of experiences,

Possible causes and development of this phobia

The fear that characterizes phobias is related to the possibility of suffering an injury; regardless of whether this injury has occurred before, and without necessarily considering the actual likelihood of occurrence. On the other hand, such fear may be caused by a previous experience where harm has actually occurred.

In this sense, testophobia can be generated either by the direct negative consequences of having failed previous exams or tests ; or, it can be caused by the meanings associated with the experience of being evaluated and of failing, even if the previous results have been mostly positive.

The latter may also be related to the expectations and demands generated by the immediate environment , and which do not necessarily correspond to the performance, capacities or interests of the person.

On the other hand, specific situational phobias usually develop in early adulthood, although in some cases they occur during childhood. In addition, the fear of the situation usually presents itself in a rational but persistent way during childhood but does not trigger a phobia until adulthood .

Bados (2005) tells us that in some studies it has been reported that around 9 years can pass between the beginning of the fear and the beginning of the phobia. In addition, specific phobias are more common in women (three women for every man), although this may vary according to the specific situation.

Treatment

As with other phobias, there are different strategies that can help decrease the experience of discomfort related to the stressful situation . These strategies range from analyzing and modifying the meanings attributed to the stimulus that generates stress (in this case, the experience of being evaluated by means of an exam), to relearning the styles of emotional coping with the same situation.

In the specific case of testophobia, it is important to ensure that the situations surrounding the application of a test (that is, what happens before and after the moment of presenting it), generate experiences of tranquility and not only stress.

In other words, it is important to compensate the tensions caused by the excessive need to study, with other activities or experiences that provide relaxation. Similarly, it is important to manage the results of the test in an assertive manner, especially when it comes to unexpected or unsatisfactory results.

Bibliographic references:

  • Testophobia (2017). Common-phobia. Recovered 31 August. Available at http://common-phobias.com/testo/phobia.htm.
  • Bados, A. (2005). Specific phobias. Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona. Retrieved August 31, 2018. Available at http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/bitstream/2445/360/1/113.pdf.
  • Talha, M. (2004). Phobia. A select annotated bibliography. Dissertation for the award of the degree of Master of Library & Information Science. Aligarh Muslim University (India). Retrieved 31 August 2018. Available at http://ir.amu.ac.in/7550/1/DS%203365.pdf.
  • Testophobia-Fear of taking test (S/A). Phobia Source. Retrieved August 31, 2018. Available at http://www.phobiasource.com/testophobia-fear-of-taking-tests/.