Emotions and Environment: Unlocking Students’ Potential in Mathematics

Abstract

Learning mathematics depends on an individual's emotion and environment. Emotion and environment play crucial roles in students' performance in mathematics, influencing both their ability to engage with the subject and their overall academic success. Emotions is a complex psychological state that is defined as the readiness of the mind in interpreting current situations and the thoughts that play in mind which involves experience, behavioural response and physiological response. In this context, the environment encompasses a range of internal and external conditions that shape how individuals perceive and engage with mathematics. Environment can be divided into several main components including educational environment, social environment, cultural environment, personal environment and physical environment. Understanding these environmental factors can help in developing strategies to manage and reduce mathematics anxiety. Creating a positive, supportive environment can make a significant difference in understanding how students experience and regulate anxiety associated with mathematics. Thus, the objective of this research was to assess the influence of emotional and environmental factors on student performance in mathematics through a regression analysis approach. In total, 325 students from selected higher learning institutions responded to the questionnaire voluntarily. The findings showed that there was a significant negative effect of both factors on student performance where the environment was a more significant factor (β = -.685, p = <.001) than emotion (β = -.246, p = <.001). This study concludes that more efforts need to be made to reduce the level of negative emotions towards mathematics by providing a better learning environment so that students show a high level of motivation and display enhanced self-assurance when engaging with mathematics.