Information search performance and research achievement: An empirical test of the Anxiety‐Expectation Mediation model of library anxiety

This study presents a test of the Anxiety‐Expectation Mediation (AEM) model of library anxiety. The AEM model contains variables that are directly or indirectly related to information search performance, as measured by students' scores on their research proposals. This model posits that library anxiety and self‐perception serve as factors that mediate the relationship between performance in writing a research proposal and other cognitive, personality, and demographic variables. The model was tested using 225 graduate students enrolled in several sections of an introductory‐level course at a midsouthern university. Structural equation modeling techniques supported the AEM model. In particular, library anxiety and research achievement were reciprocally related. Furthermore, library anxiety mediated the relationship between research performance and the following variables: age, grade point average, learning style, academic procrastination, and self‐perception. The path analysis also revealed a direct, positive path from self‐perception to research performance. In addition, self‐perception moderated the relationship between research achievement and academic procrastination, perfectionism, and hope. The AEM model of library anxiety suggests that Wine's (1980) Cognitive‐Attentional‐Interference theory, Onwuegbuzie, Jiao, and Bostick's (in press) ILP model of library anxiety, and Bandura's (1977) self‐efficacy theory can be applied to the library and information context. Findings are discussed within the framework of current social‐psychological models of educational achievement.