Exploring Writers’ Motivation and Anxiety Using The Theory of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/hkw33208Keywords:
self-fulfilling prophecy, writers, motivation, anxietyAbstract
Writing is an important skill which students perceive as one of the most challenging skills to learn. However, having writing skills is crucial as it is one of the skills demanded by employers. Hence, this study aims to investigate students’ level of anxiety and to determine students’ level of self-efficacy when they are writing in English language. This study employed a quantitative approach by using a cross-sectional research design. To obtain the data, a set of questionnaires was distributed and there were 230 participants who participated in this study. The results indicated that the majority of students have a high level of self efficacy and a moderate level of self-anxiety. It can also be seen that there is a significant relationship between students’ self-efficacy and self-anxiety. Based on the results, it can be implied that educators have to ensure the classroom environment should be a non-threatening environment where students will feel comfortable and not afraid to learn and make mistakes. Therefore, both educators and students have to work simultaneously to improve students’ writing performance. It is also recommended for future research to explore the same topic by using a qualitative or mixed-method approach.
References
Ahmad, N., Alias, F.A., Hamat, M., & Mohamed, S.A. (2024) Reliability Analysis: Application of Cronbach’s Alpha in Research Instruments. SIG: e-L earning@CS, 114-119. https://appspenang.uitm.edu.my/sigcs/
Almadi, S. (2022). The meta-narrative of self-fulfilling prophecy in the different research areas. Society and Economy. https://doi.org/10.1556/204.2022.00001.
Almutairy, A. H. (2024). Exploring the relationship between self-efficacy and second language writing anxiety among Saudi EFL students: A correlational study. Arab World English Journal.
Alshammari, B. (2025). English writing anxiety among undergraduate EFL students in Saudi Arabia (Doctoral dissertation, University of Essex). https://repository.essex.ac.uk/42365/1/Alshammari_PhD_Thesis_November%202025.pdf
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1985-98423-000
Balta, E. E. (2018). The Relationships Among Writing Skills, Writing Anxiety and Metacognitive Awareness. Journal of Education and Learning, 7(3), 233-241.
Cheng, Y. S. (2004). A measure of second language writing anxiety: Scale development and preliminary validation. Journal of Second Language Writing, 13, 313-335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2004.07.001
Cheng, Y. S. (2002). Factors associated with foreign language writing anxiety. Foreign language annals, 35(6), 647-656.
Cui, Y., Schunn, C., Gai, X., Jiang, Y., & Wang, Z. (2021). Effects of Trained Peer vs. Teacher Feedback on EFL Students’ Writing Performance, Self-Efficacy, and Internalization of Motivation. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.788474.
Daud, N. S. M., Daud, N. M., & Kassim, N. L. A. (2005). Second language writing anxiety: Cause or effect?. Malaysian journal of ELT research, 1(1).
Fitrinada, D. M., Loeneto, B. A., & Fiftinova, F. (2018). Students’ writing anxiety and its correlation with writing performance. The Journal of English Literacy Education, 5(2), 194-207.
He, L. (2024) The Application of SPSS Correlation Analysis in the Study if Precision Teaching of English in Universities. Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Science, 9(1), 1-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/amns-2024-1371
Ho, M. L. (2016). Exploring writing anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs among EFL graduate students in Taiwan. Higher Education Studies, 6(1), 24–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/hes.v6n1p24
Hwang, S. (2025). Unpacking the impact of writing feedback perception on self-regulated writing ability: The role of writing self-efficacy and self-regulated learning strategies. Behavioral Sciences, 15(2), 100. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15020100
Kamaruddin, S. F., Daneil, I. L., & Eng, T. H. (2021). Exploring the Relationship between Writing Anxiety and the Pedagogical Use of Online Learning Medium among Malaysian University Students. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(4), 1450-1468. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i4/9842
Kara, S. (2013). Writing Anxiety: A Case Study on Students’ Reasons for Anxiety in Writing Classes. Anadolu Journal of Educational Sciences International, 3(1), 103-111.
Karakaya, I., & Ulper, H. (2011). Developing a writing anxiety scale and examining writing anxiety based on various variables. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 11(2), 703-707.
Khan, S., Shah, S. A., & Ayub, S. (2024). Effect of writing anxiety and writing self-regulation on English writing motivation and academic achievement. Migration Letters, 21(6), 173–184. https://migrationletters.com/index.php/ml/article/download/11297/7572/27564/
King, O., & Mertens, M. (2023). Self-fulfilling Prophecy in Practical and Automated Prediction. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 26, 127-152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-022-10359-9.
Li, B. (2022). Research on the correlation between English writing self-efficacy and psychological anxiety. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 957664. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.957664/full
Merton, R. (1948). The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. The Antioch Review, 8, 193-210. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4609267
Puspita, A. G. (2023). An analysis of the level of students’ anxiety on their writing skills. IREELL: Indonesian Review of English Education, Linguistics, and Literature, 1(2), 108-126. https://doi.org/10.30762/ireell.v1i2.1970
Quintero, J., Santos, J., & Valencia, A. (2022). Approaches between Self-Efficacy and Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, Perspectives from Education. Journal of Educational and Social Research. https://doi.org/10.36941/jesr-2022-0143.
Quotes.net. (2025). William Arthur Ward: “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” Retrieved January 10, 2026, from https://www.quotes.net/quote/6646
Rahmat, N. H., Othman, N. A., Kasim, A. A. M., Khairuddin, Z., & Aripin, N. (2019). The cycle of self-fulfilling prophecy in academic writing. European Journal of Education Studies, 5(11), 146–158. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2592623
Rahmat, N.H. (2021) Writers’ Beliefs and Expectations in Academic Writing: Towards a Model of writing Prophecies. European Journal of English language Teaching, 6(4), 48—59. https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejel/article/view/3737
Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom: Teacher expectation and pupils’ intellectual development. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Sabti, A., Rashid, S., Nimehchisalem, V., & Darmi, R. (2019). The Impact of Writing Anxiety, Writing Achievement Motivation, and Writing Self-Efficacy on Writing Performance: A Correlational Study of Iraqi Tertiary EFL Learners. SAGE Open, 9. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019894289.
Shamsudin, M. H. C., Kassim, H., & Mohamed, A. A. (2025). Students’ anxiety and attitudes towards writing at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sungai Baging. International Journal of Language Education and Applied Linguistics, 15(1), 131-140. https://doi.org/10.15282/ijleal.v15i1.11825
Talsma, K., Schüz, B., & Norris, K. (2019). Miscalibration of self-efficacy and academic performance: Self-efficacy ≠ self-fulfilling prophecy. Learning and Individual Differences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2018.11.002.
Trang, & Vu, T. Q. (2022). Students’ perceptions on learning writing skills through project-based learning. International Journal of Applied Science and Research, 5(4), 198 - 205. https://www.ijasr.org/paper/IJASR0042793.pdf
Vetter, T.R. (2017) Descriptive Statistics: Reporting the Answers to the 5 Basic Questions of Who, What, Why, When , Where, and a Sixth, so What? Anesth Analg, 12595), 1797-1802. https://doi.org/10.1213/ane.0000000000002471
Villar, E., Real-Deus, E., Martínez-López, Z., Mayo, M., & Tinajero, C. (2025). Perceived peer support, motivational self‐regulation and academic achievement in adolescents. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 1325 - 1346. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12783.
Vu, T., Magis-Weinberg, L., Jansen, B., Van Atteveldt, N., Janssen, T., Lee, N., Van Der Maas, H., Raijmakers, M., Sachisthal, M., & Meeter, M. (2021). Motivation-Achievement Cycles in Learning: a Literature Review and Research Agenda. Educational Psychology Review, 34, 39-71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09616-7.
Zhang, H., Song, W., Shen, S., & Huang, R. (2014). The effects of blog-mediated peer feedback on learners’ motivation, collaboration, and course satisfaction in a second language writing course. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 30(6).
Zhang, H. (2011). A study on ESL writing anxiety among Chinese English majors: Causes, effects and coping strategies for ESL writing anxiety.
Zhang, Y., & Dong, L. (2022). A study of the impacts of motivational regulation and self-regulated second-language writing strategies on college students’ proximal and distal writing enjoyment and anxiety. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 938346. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.938346
Ziegenfuss, J. Y., Casey A. E., Jennifer M. D., Meghan M. J., Thomas E. K, and Marna, C.. (2022) Impact of Demographic Survey Questions on Response Rate and Measurement: A Randomized Experiment. Survey Practice 14 (1), https://doi.org/10.29115/SP-2021-0010.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nor Syahiza Shahabani, Zulaikha Khairuddin, Wan Nadia Asila Tun Ibrahim, Siti Sarah Roselan, Noor Hanim Rahmat
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All articles published in the Journal of Creative Practices in Language Learning and Teaching (CPLT) are licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
You are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
