Analysis of the Relation Between Spatial Anxiety and Spatial Skills

The present dissertation aims to examine the relationship between spatial anxiety and spatial skills by incorporating existing research literature and proposing a study on how the geographical area influences this relationship. It contributes to this aim through a meta-analytic review, an analysis of key studies, and a research proposal. The first chapter presents the meta-analysis of Geer (2024). The relationship between spatial anxiety and spatial skills poses a critical issue to examine, revealing how individuals’ behaviors in spatial tasks can significantly influence their navigation and cognitive skills. Having said this, the first chapter presents the meta-analytic review by Geer (2024), demonstrating a small but significant negative correlation between spatial anxiety and spatial skills. It presents that higher levels of spatial anxiety corresponded to lower spatial skills, suggesting that the anxiety an individual feels toward performing spatial tasks poses a problem in an individuals’ abilities to perform such tasks effectively. Two main mediators identified were: experiential avoidance and the depletion of cognitive resources. The second chapter focus on the presentation of some papers on spatial anxiety. Lawton’s (1994) study presented how men show a higher performance on spatial tasks compared to women, particularly in mental rotation and spatial perception. Moreover, it demonstrated how men and women use different way-finding strategies depending on their level of spatial anxiety, which provided a comprehension of the relationship between way-finding and spatial anxiety. In addition, Ramirez et al. (2012) explores how spatial anxiety relates to spatial abilities as a function of working memory in children. The findings indicated that spatial anxiety is negatively related to spatial ability, particularly among individuals with higher working memory. Lastly, Lawton and Janos Kallai (2002) study evaluates gender differences in way-finding strategies and wayfinding anxiety across two diverse cultural contexts: central Hungary and Midwestern United States. By comparing college students from these countries, the study offers an understanding of whether urban environments with higher crime rates, such as those in the US, contribute to higher levels of way-finding anxiety compared to rural environments in Hungary. In addition to this, it explores whether gender-based differences in wayfinding strategies and anxiety are consistent across both cultures. The third chapter presents a research proposal aimed to investigate whether environmental factors contribute to the differences between spatial anxiety and spatial skills, by informing our understanding of how spatial behaviors vary in diverse geographical areas. It examines the relationship between spatial anxiety and spatial skills in Lombardy’s urban environments such as Milan, Italy, versus rural environments such as Magasa, Italy. The comparison between these two cities is because of their shared location in the Lombardy region, which provides a geographic and cultural connection. This minimizes cofounding variables related to cultural or regional differences, allowing for a clear examination of the contrasting urban and rural features. Therefore, this offers an insight into how these geographical features vary in their influence over the relationship between spatial anxiety and spatial skills. The hypothesis stated that residents of urban areas, with their complex navigational environments, high population density, and frequent exposure to navigational challenges would experience higher spatial anxiety and higher spatial skills compared to residents of rural areas. Expected findings indicate that urban residents, due to their exposure to diverse spatial challenges, tend to develop better spatial skills and experience high anxiety in spatial tasks, compared to residents from rural areas