Examination of the relationship between learning styles and levels of fear and hopelessness in mathematics among primary and secondary school students

The aim of this study is to examine in detail the relationship between secondary school students' learning styles and their levels of fear and hopelessness in mathematics, and to determine whether there is a statistically significant relationship among these variables. The population of the study consists of 1,984 students enrolled in seven secondary education institutions located in the city center of Bingöl, Türkiye. In the data collection process, the following instruments were used: Learning Styles Inventory, Mathematics Hopelessness Scale, and Mathematics Anxiety Scale. According to the findings, there is a statistically significant but weak relationship between learning styles and hopelessness in mathematics. It was found that the most commonly adopted learning style among students was the tactile learning style. A low-level positive and statistically significant relationship was observed between students' auditory and visual learning style scores and their mathematics anxiety levels. However, no statistically significant relationship was found between the tactile learning style and mathematics anxiety. A strong positive and statistically significant relationship was found between students' mathematics hopelessness scores and their mathematics anxiety scores. According to the results of the Scheffé test, which was conducted to compare mathematics hopelessness and anxiety levels based on grade level, a statistically significant difference was found only between 9th and 10th grade students in terms of mathematics hopelessness scores (p = .028). In the comparison of mathematics anxiety by grade level, a statistically significant difference was found only between 10th and 12th grade students (p < .001). No statistically significant difference was observed among the other grade levels (p > .05). According to the results of the t-test conducted to compare mathematics hopelessness and anxiety levels based on gender, a statistically significant difference was found in mathematics anxiety scores between female and male students. This difference was in favor of female students, indicating that female students experience higher levels of mathematics anxiety compared to male students.