ABSTRACT
Many people confess to being anxious about mathematics. It is socially acceptable in Western culture to admit to having low abilities with numbers, a strategy that often lowers mathematics anxiety in adults by lowering expectations. So, if expectations of ability can be forestalled, then poor performance and anxiety have less impact on self-esteem. This strategy does not always work and many people suffer from low selfesteem as a consequence of what they perceive as a personal failure.
