‘I Am Just Not a Numbers Person.’ Or at least, that is what you tell yourself.
“I’m rubbish at maths, so I can’t do my accounts.”
We hear it all the time. But the research says something surprising: a lot of what feels like a lack of ability is actually maths anxiety. And anxiety is not a fixed trait. It is a response, and responses can change.
The dread is worse than the task
In 2012, researchers at the University of Chicago scanned the brains of people who were anxious about maths. Simply being told a maths problem was coming lit up areas of the brain linked to physical pain. Doing the sums did not. The worst part was the waiting.
Worry takes up thinking space
Psychologist Mark Ashcraft found that maths anxiety uses up working memory, the mental space we use to hold numbers while we work with them. Anxious people did worse on timed tests and under pressure. Much of the gap came from the worry, not from evidence of what they could actually do.
Belief changes results
This one is particularly relevant for female founders. In a 1999 study, men and women with similar maths ability took the same test. When the women were told the test usually showed gender differences, they scored lower. When they were told it did not, the gap disappeared!
And the loop keeps itself going
If we think we are bad at something, we avoid it. We get less practice, so it feels harder, and that seems to prove we were right all along. In accounting and bookkeeping terms, that means a carrier bag of receipts, tax return anxiety in January, and “see, I told you I was bad at this.”
The good news
The research also shows how to break the loop.
1. Write the worry down first. A 2011 study found that students who spent ten minutes writing about their worries before an exam scored higher.
2. Call it readiness, not fear. Students who were told that nerves can help performance did better in maths tests.
3. Start small. Since the dread peaks before you begin, a ten-minute task is the hardest part to start, and once you have started, it rarely feels as bad as you expected.
Most bookkeeping is sorting and matching, not maths. Tools like Xero bookkeeping software do the sums for you. What really helps is a regular habit, and that is something anyone can build, whatever your relationship with numbers looks like right now.
If you need somewhere to start, our Tax In Two service is exactly that. Two hours together, your tax return completed and submitted, and so often people leave surprised by how much they already knew. Sometimes you just need someone in the ‘room’ with you.
The research behind this
If you want to explore further, the studies are below, exactly the kind of small start the science recommends.
Lyons, I. M. and Beilock, S. L. (2012). When math hurts: math anxiety predicts pain network activation in anticipation of doing math. PLoS ONE, 7(10).
Ashcraft, M. H. and Kirk, E. P. (2001). The relationships among working memory, math anxiety, and performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130(2).
Spencer, S. J., Steele, C. M. and Quinn, D. M. (1999). Stereotype threat and women’s math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35(1).
Ramirez, G., and Beilock, S. L. (2011). Writing about testing worries boosts exam performance in the classroom. Science, 331(6014).
Jamieson, J. P., Mendes, W. B., Blackstock, E., and Schmader, T. (2010). Turning the knots in your stomach into bows: reappraising arousal improves performance on the GRE. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(1).
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