Abstract---- In today’s rapidly evolving world, humans are completely occupied into their
activities and have little to no time to reflect on and care for their mental health. The
amount of stress that an individual has to deal on daily basis to compete and get a
competitive edge is exceeding human stress bearing capabilities. The amount of stress and
the varying abilities of different individuals to counter it can reflect in the performance of
an individual. In this article, we are going to review the work that has been done so far to
examine the effects of stress on the academic performance of students.
1-Introduction
Students experience a lot of exam stress and performance anxiety in the academic environment.
This is due to the competition and the expectations that are associated on the behalf of parents
and the goals set by the individuals themselves. The extent to which stress can affect the
functioning of a student can vary from individual to individual depending on the personality
traits and the ability to cope with stressful stimuli. An individual might be really good in one
academic aspect but may struggle in another one. There is a limited time for each student to keep
up with the pace of the contents covered in the class and prepare for the examination. The
amount of stress experienced may exceed the normal limits if the time is not managed smartly.
The way a student might perceive exams is also a determining factor. Some students might
perceive exams as a threating event that will activate the fight or fight mechanism and lead to
extreme levels of stress. Some students don’t meet the deadlines and use in effective study
techniques like rote memorization without trying to comprehend the semantic aspect. Stress
levels experienced on daily basis also affect the attention during class and the way a student is
able to comprehend the concepts being taught in the class. The variable of stress and the way it
affects the academic activities of undergraduate students will be the focus of our research.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Review of literature is a backbone of any research. It helps the researcher to know the areas
where earlier studies had focused on and certain aspects untouched by them. The gaps that are
needed to be filled and the new challenges that need to be worked on and finding the solutions
for them.
Xiu-Jiao e al. (2020) in their quantitative study examined the association of stress with the
academic performance of dental undergraduate students and 20found that stress levels are
correlated with GPA attained and they significantly affect the performance. The multiple linear
regression indicated that stress has negative impact academic performance. There was no
significant correlation of stress cores with age and sex of the students.
Wei Zhang (2022) researched on the influence of stress on examination results of undergraduates
and in his quantitative study he concluded that stress levels had an observable impact on the test
scores and test anxiety is a common phenomenon in college. The difficulty of the task at hand
determined the levels of stress experienced.
Oduwaiye Olape et al. (2017) examined the influence stress on the academic performance of
University students in Nigeria and concluded in their descriptive research that a significant
relationship exists between the stress level and academic performance of the students. There is
also a significant relationship between level of personal stress, interpersonal stress,
environmental stress, achievement stress and academic performance.
Michalea C. Pacooe (2020) in her research on the students of the faculty of science and
engineering during COVID -19 pandemic concluded that academic-related stress is a major
concern for secondary and tertiary students. The ongoing stress relating to education has
demonstrated negative impact on students’ learning capacity, academic performance, education
and employment attainment, sleep quality and quantity, physical health, mental health and
substance use outcomes
Janet Corzo Zavaleta et al. (2021) in their study on students in secondary and tertiary education
settings concluded from their qualitative research that the relationship between stress and
academic performance is very low. Stress is not unique or limited to academics only ands there
are other forms of stress that individuals may encounter in their daily lives.
Austin et al. (2010) examined the relationship among emotional intelligence, coping strategies
and examination related stress in undergraduate students studying in Canada and concluded that
when a person expects that his performance will be evaluated in relation to some standard of
excellence, such behavior is achievement-oriented and doesn’t affect the performance of the
students.