Abstract
Research on the affective dimensions of mathematics learning and achievement has tended to focus on negative emotions and on mathematics anxiety in particular, with much less work on positive emotions. Drawing from a positive education perspective, we aim to contribute to the growing literature on positive emotions and learning. We hypothesize that positive emotions are associated with learning and achievement in mathematics, even when mathematics anxiety is considered. Filipino students enrolled in a college trigonometry course completed the Academic Emotions Questionnaire-Mathematics and scales assessing their self-efficacy and self-regulation in trigonometry. Students’ final grades for the course were recorded with their informed consent. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that enjoyment and pride explained a significant amount of variance in the final grades, self-regulation, and self-efficacy, even after accounting for the variance explained by gender and anxiety. Although the results cannot be interpreted as indicating a causal relationship between positive emotions and achievement, the results indicate how positive emotions in mathematics learning can contribute to a more balanced picture of the role of affective states in mathematics learning.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ainley, M., & Ainley, J. (2011). Student engagement with science in early adolescence: The contribution of enjoyment to students’ continuing interest in learning about science. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36, 4–12.
Ashcraft, M. H. (2002). Math anxiety: Personal, educational, and cognitive consequences. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(5), 181–185.
Ashcraft, M. H., & Moore, A. M. (2009). Mathematics anxiety and the affective drop in performance. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27(3), 197–205.
Aspinwall, L. G. (1998). Rethinking the role of positive affect in self-regulation. Motivation and Emotion, 22(1), 1–32.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
Baron, R. A. (1990). Environmentally induced positive affect: Its impact on self-efficacy, task performance, negotiation, and conflict. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 20, 368–384.
Bernardo, A. B. I., Ganotice, F. A., & King, R. B. (2014). Motivation gap and achievement gap between public and private high schools in the Philippines. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher. doi:10.1007/s40299-014-0213-2. Published online October 2014.
Bernardo, A. B. I., Ouano, J. A., & Salanga, M. G. C. (2009). What is an academic emotion? Insights from Filipino bilingual students’ emotion words associated with learning. Psychological Studies, 54, 28–37.
Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1975). Applied multiple correlation/regression analysis for the social sciences. New York: Wiley.
Duckworth, A. L., Shulman, E. P., Mastronarde, A. J., Patrick, S. D., Zhang, J., & Druckman, J. (2015). Will not want: Self-control rather than motivation explains the female advantage in report card grades. Learning and Individual Differences, 39, 13–23.
Else-Quest, N. M., Hyde, J. S., & Linn, M. C. (2010). Cross-national patterns of gender differences in mathematics: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 136(1), 103.
Erez, A., & Isen, A. M. (2002). The influence of positive affect on the components of expectancy motivation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 1055–1067.
Erturan, S., & Jansen, B. (2015). An investigation of boys’ and girls’ emotional experience of math, their math performance and the relation between these variables. European Journal of Psychology of Education. doi:10.1007/s10212-015-0248-7. Published online first March 2014.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 51, 115–134.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2003). The value of positive emotions: The emerging science of positive psychology is coming to understand why it’s good to feel good. American Scientist, 91(4), 330–335.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Positive emotions broaden and build. In E. Ashby Plan & P. G. Devine (Eds.), Advances on experimental social psychology (Vol. 47, pp. 1–53). Burlington: Academic Press.
Frenzel, A. C., Thrash, T. M., Pekrun, R., & Goetz, T. (2007). Achievement emotions in Germany and China: A cross-cultural validation of the Academic Emotions Questionnaire-Mathematics (AEQ-M). Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38, 302–309.
Ganley, C. M., & Vasilyeva, M. (2014). The role of anxiety and working memory in gender differences in mathematics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(1), 105–120.
Gómez-Chacón, I. M., García-Madruga, J. A., Vila, J. Ó., Elosúa, M. R., & Rodríguez, R. (2014). The dual processes hypothesis in mathematics performance: Beliefs, cognitive reflection, working memory and reasoning. Learning and Individual Differences, 29, 67–73.
Halpern, D. F., Benbow, C. P., Geary, D. C., Gur, R. C., Hyde, J. S., & Gernsbacher, M. A. (2007). The science of sex differences in science and mathematics. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 8(1), 1–51.
Hom, H. L., & Arbuckle, B. (1988). Mood induction effects upon goal setting and performance in young children. Motivation and Emotion, 12, 113–122.
Isen, A. M., & Reeve, J. (2005). The influence of positive affect on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: Facilitating enjoyment of play, responsible work behavior, and self- control. Motivation and Emotion, 29, 297–325.
King, R. B., & Areepattamannil, S. (2014). What students feel in school influences the strategies they use for learning: Academic emotions and cognitive/meta-cognitive strategies. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 8, 18–27.
King, R. B., & Gaerlan, M. J. M. (2014). High self-control predicts more positive emotions, better engagement, and higher achievement in school. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 29(1), 81–100.
King, R. B., McInerney, D. M., Ganotice, F. A., & Villarosa, J. B. (2015). Positive affect catalyzes academic engagement: Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental evidence. Learning and Individual Differences, 39, 64–72.
Kleine, M., Goetz, T., Pekrun, R., & Hall, N. (2005). The structure of students’ emotions experienced during a mathematical achievement. International Review of Mathematics Education, 37(3), 221–225.
Linnenbrink-Garcia, E., & Pekrun, R. (2011). Students’ emotions and academic engagement: An introduction to the special issue. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36, 1–3.
Luo, W., Hogan, D., Tan, L. S., Kaur, B., Ng, P. T., & Chan, M. (2014). Self-construal and students’ math self-concept, anxiety and achievement: An examination of achievement goals as mediators. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 17(3), 184–195.
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Deiner, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803–855.
McIlroy, D., Poole, K., Ursavas, Ö. F., & Moriarty, A. (2015). Distal and proximal associates of academic performance at secondary level: A mediation model of personality and self-efficacy. Learning and Individual Differences, 38, 1–9.
Pekrun, R. (2006). The control-value theory of achievement emotions. Assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 18, 315–341.
Pekrun, R., Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2009). Achievement goals and achievement emotions: Testing a model of their joint relations with academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(1), 115–135.
Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Titz, W., & Perry, R. P. (2002). Academic emotions in students’ self-regulated learning and achievement. A program of qualitative and quantitative research. Educational Psychologist, 37, 91–105.
Pekrun, R., & Perry, R. P. (2014). Control-value theory of achievement emotions. In R. Pekrun & L. Linnenbrink-Garcia (Eds.), International handbook of emotions in education (pp. 120–141). NY: Routledge.
Pintrich, P. R. (2000). The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 451–502). San Diego: Academic Press.
Pintrich, P. R., Smith, D. A. F., Garcia, T., & McKeachie, W. J. (1991). A manual for the use of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Tech. Rep. No. 91-B-004). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
Pinxten, M., Marsh, H. W., De Fraine, B., van den Noortgate, W., & van Damme, J. (2014). Enjoying mathematics or feeling competent in mathematics? Reciprocal effects on mathematics achievement and perceived math effort expenditure. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 152–174.
Ruthig, J. C., Perry, R. P., Hladkyj, S., Hall, N. C., Pekrun, R., & Chipperfield, J. G. (2008). Perceived control and emotions: Interactive effects on performance in achievement settings. Social Psychology of Education, 11, 161–180.
Schnell, K., Ringeisen, T., Raufelder, D., & Rohrmann, S. (2015). The impact of adolescents’ self-efficacy and self-regulated goal attainment processes on school performance—do gender and test anxiety matter? Learning and Individual Differences, 38, 90–98.
Schunk, D. H., & Ertmer, P. A. (2000). Self-regulation and academic learning: Self-efficacy enhancing interventions. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 631–650). San Diego: Academic Press.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 35, 5–14.
Seligman, M. E., Ernst, R. M., Gillham, J., Reivich, K., & Linkins, M. (2009). Positive education: Positive psychology and classroom interventions. Oxford Review of Education, 35(3), 293–311.
Spangler, G., Pekrun, R., Kramer, K., & Hofmann, H. (2002). Students’ emotions, physiological reactions, and coping in academic exams. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 15(4), 413–432.
Stankov, L., Lee, J., Luo, W., & Hogan, D. J. (2012). Confidence: A better predictor of academic achievement than self-efficacy, self-concept and anxiety? Learning and Individual Differences, 22(6), 747–758.
Suarez-Alvarez, J., Fernandez-Alonso, R., & Muniz, J. (2014). Self-concept, motivation, expectations, and socioeconomic level as predictors of academic performance in mathematics. Learning and Individual Differences, 30, 118–123.
Tan, C., & Tan, L. S. (2014). The role of optimism, self-esteem, academic self-efficacy and gender in high-ability students. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 23(3), 621–633.
Tempel, T., & Neumann, R. (2014). Stereotype threat, test anxiety, and mathematics performance. Social Psychology of Education, 17(3), 491–501.
Terjesen, M. D., Jacofsky, M., Froh, J., & DiGiuseppe, R. (2004). Integrating positive psychology into schools: Implications for practice. Psychology in the Schools, 41(1), 163–172.
Tsai, J. L. (2007). Ideal affect: Cultural causes and behavioral consequences. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 242–259.
Tsai, L. T., Yang, C. C., & Chang, Y. J. (2015). Gender differences in factors affecting science performance of eighth grade Taiwan students. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 24, 445–456.
Villavicencio, F. T. (2011). Critical thinking, negative academic emotions, and achievement: A mediational analysis. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 20, 118–126.
Villavicencio, F. T., & Bernardo, A. B. I. (2013a). Negative emotions moderate the relationship between self-efficacy and achievement of Filipino students. Psychological Studies, 58(3), 225–232.
Villavicencio, F. T., & Bernardo, A. B. I. (2013b). Positive academic emotions moderate the relationship between self-regulation and academic achievement. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 329–340.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a Faculty Development Grant and a Dissertation Grant awarded to the first author by the Commission on Higher Education, Philippines. Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by a grant to the second author from the Research Development and Administration Office of the University of Macau (Project Reference No.: SRG014-FSH13-ABIB).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Villavicencio, F.T., Bernardo, A.B.I. Beyond Math Anxiety: Positive Emotions Predict Mathematics Achievement, Self-Regulation, and Self-Efficacy. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 25, 415–422 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-015-0251-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-015-0251-4