Do you look like your parents? What genetic traits (遗传特性) did your parents pass on to you? Was it their eye color or their height? It could be their sense of humor or their musical talent. Or maybe it was their fear of mathematics.
A research at Ohio State University in the US has found that genetics are partly responsible for children's math skills and anxiety about math.
Scientists studied over 500 sets of twins to find out how genetic affect math anxiety. Over a period of 10 years, the twins completed math tests and filled out surveys about their levels of math anxiety. They found that fraternal twins (twins with different genetics) had different levels of skill and anxiety about math. Identical twins (twins with the same gene set) have similar levels.
This shows that people's fear of math is partially affected by their genetic makeup (基因构造). Math anxiety has a strong effect on a child's abilities. University of Chicago found math anxiety can cause the same feeling as being physically hurt.
This anxiety means that some students are not willing to study math as much as they should. Therefore, they become even worse at math and less confident in their skill. This only adds to their fear.
But if you're bad at math, don't try to blame (责怪) it on your parents. The environment, including school and family, is also part of the equation (影响因素).
