Doing stats is something I actually like, but I remember I was one of the exceptions in my class. A new review study by Peter Chew and Denise Dillon published in Perspectives on Psychological Science can help!

Their insights to help teachers to help their students to conquer their fear:

• Reduce the focus on mathematics in statistics courses.
  “Although formulas and calculations might help students understand statistics, they might aggravate the situation because students have to deal with mathematics anxiety in addition to statistics anxiety. Furthermore, with the plethora of commercial and free statistical software, the need for manual calculations should be diminished. Thus, instructors should devote most of their time to helping students understand the assumptions and the appropriate use of statistical tests.”
• Structure the class schedule in a way that discourages procrastination.
  “…instructors should structure the statistics course to discourage procrastination. Similar to how students procrastinate on enrolling in the statistics course until their last semester, anecdotal evidence suggests that students procrastinate on studying for statistics until the last week or two before their examinations. Therefore, instructors can introduce weekly quizzes to encourage students to keep up with their required readings. Furthermore, incorrect answers on these quizzes help instructors to identify the problematic areas for the students. In addition, instructors should award marks to students for participation rather than for correct answers. The idea is to encourage students to be consistent in studying for statistics instead of experiencing statistics anxiety or test anxiety because of the potentially evaluative nature of the quizzes.”
• Allow students to ask questions anonymously.
• Integrate humor the statistics course.
  “…humor should be integrated into statistics courses through the inclusion of cartoons on lecture slides or by adopting a humorous teaching style.”
• Exhibit anxiety reducing behaviors in class.
  “…instructors should manage their own anxieties (if any) to appear confident and composed to students. In addition, instructors should exhibit immediacy behaviors to increase psychological and physical closeness and to reduce statistics anxiety…”

Abstract of the research (free access):

Appreciation of the importance of statistics literacy for citizens of a democracy has resulted in an increasing number of degree programs making statistics courses mandatory for university students. Unfortunately, empirical evidence suggests that students in nonmathematical disciplines (e.g., social sciences) regard statistics courses as the most anxiety-inducing course in their degree programs. Although a literature review exists for statistics anxiety, it was done more than a decade ago, and newer studies have since added findings for consideration. In this article, we provide a current review of the statistics anxiety literature. Specifically, related variables, definitions, and measures of statistics anxiety are reviewed with the goal of refining the statistics anxiety construct. Antecedents, effects, and interventions of statistics anxiety are also reviewed to provide recommendations for statistics instructors and for a new research agenda.