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

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.

Mathematics is more than just numbers and formulas. It stands as a foundation of science, technology and

Math anxiety strongly affects students’ emotions, but the study did not consider how the classroom setting or

performance might also shape this problem [1]. Math anxiety is deeply tied to negative emotions and past

learning environments, and addressing these factors can help rebuild confidence [2]. Previous studies [13]–[15]

highlighted that emotional intelligence and study orientation are pivotal in mathematics achievement,

suggesting that math anxiety must be understood not only as a cognitive challenge but also as an emotional and

learning-environment challenge. Recent systematic reviews highlight a robust negative link between math

anxiety and performance [7], [50]. Furthermore, emotional competence and academic self-concept have been

shown to mediate how students approach mathematical tasks [27], [47]. Family support, including parental

mathematics performance, while factors such as larger family size can reduce individualized attention, making

mathematics achievement.

Studies have consistently highlighted the significant role of emotional conditions in academic success. Among

the emotions studied in mathematics education, mathematics anxiety has received consistent attention as it

uniquely captures how fear and tension disrupt the ability to think clearly during solving mathematics

problems. The phenomenon of math anxiety has been recognized for decades. The Mathematics Anxiety

Rating Scale (MARS) was introduced to show that negative emotions toward mathematics could be

motivation and performance in mathematics [35].

the classroom environment. While [38] proposed the Control-Value Theory as a comprehensive framework

explaining how emotions such as enjoyment, anxiety, monotony, and curiosity enhance engagement and

performance. The theory was later expanded to include emotional appraisal and perceived control as key

components in academic achievement [36].

Beyond anxiety, recent studies using the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ-M) have shown that

positive emotions like enjoyment and pride help students perform better, while negative emotions such as

Mathematics anxiety negatively affects students’ confidence in math, with lower self-efficacy linked to higher

anxiety [42]. Anxiety during tests has the strongest negative effect, while feeling confident and having lower

trait anxiety helps students, especially those with learning difficulties, achieve better results [40]. This nuanced

perspective underscores that mathematics performance is embedded in a broader spectrum of emotions, not just

particularly emotional intelligence and academic self-concept, further mediate learning outcomes. Students

with stronger emotional awareness and regulation, combined with effective study habits, tend to perform better

and manage anxiety more successfully [17], [27], [31], [44].

Fear can stay in the mind even after people are told it is no longer needed, which helps explain why feelings

significantly impair performance, especially in stressful situations. According to [9], pressure disrupts working

memory, making it harder for students to solve math problems. Extending this, [26] found that students with

high math anxiety even show brain activation in pain-related regions before attempting math tasks, highlighting

the strong emotional and physiological impact of math anxiety on learning.

Mathematics anxiety remains a key emotional barrier, especially for low-performing students, as heightened

anxiety consumes working memory and reduces problem-solving abilities [5]. Conversely, high-performing

students benefit from positive emotional experiences, which mitigate anxiety and improve achievement [44].

Targeted interventions, including narrative sharing, resilience frameworks, and gamified learning, have been

shown to reduce anxiety, increase engagement, and enhance autonomy and motivation [2], [16], [29].

emotions, strong emotional intelligence, and conducive learning environments collectively enhance

engagement, reduce anxiety, and improve mathematics performance.

This study therefore examines the interaction between emotion and environment, and their combined effect on

student achievement in mathematics as outlined in the following research framework in Figure 1.

Fig. 1 Research Framework

A set of questionnaires was adapted from a previous study by [45] as an instrument for data collection. The

of emotion), C (seven items of environment) and D (respondents’ performance in mathematics). For Parts B

Therefore, the objectives of this study can be proceeded using the available instrument to test the following

hypotheses.

H1: There exists a significant effect of emotion on mathematics performance.

H2: There exists a significant effect of the environment on mathematics performance.

There will be enough evidence to support the hypotheses if the significance value (p-value) obtained from the

regression analysis approach is at least less than 5% level of significance.

This study involved students from a public higher learning institution who were randomly selected to

participate. The respondents completed the survey during their scheduled class sessions under the supervision

of the researchers to ensure full participation. Measures were taken to safeguard confidentiality, and students

were instructed to complete the questionnaire independently to uphold the assumption of sample independence.

obtained directly from their respective lecturers.

The normality test indicated that the data were reasonably normally distributed, as reflected by the skewness

In total 325 respondents were involved in the study with 120 (36.92%) are males and 205 (63.08%) are females

in higher learning institutions aged between 18 to 24 years old. Majority of them are from science and

technology programs (205, 63.08%) closer to mathematics compared to social science students. The descriptive

significance level as stated in Table 1. These results support both hypotheses. Notably, emotion exerts a

significant negative effect on mathematics performance (β = –.246, p < .001), suggesting that negative

emotional states are associated with lower mathematics achievement. lower mathematics performance. The

result is in line with previous studies that found emotional feeling to have effects on mathematics achievement

[6], [11], [20], [37], [47]. In addition, results also reveal that environment has significant negative effect on

mathematics performance among students at higher learning institution (β = .685, p-value = < .001), proves

that better and attractive environment will improve students’ performance as supported by [9], [12],[22], [43].

Meanwhile, poor conditions in the environment negatively affect their learning process and thus their

performance is influenced directly. This study also found that the environment factor gives a more significant

Table 1. Regression Weight and Its Significance