Emotional Intelligence, Math Anxiety and Math Performance in Malaysia

Abstract

This study aims to investigate how Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) and mathematics anxiety could impact on math performance in a public university in Malaysia. A quantitative study with a specific cohort of Cognitive Science students comprising the 2nd and 3rd year students were carried out. More than 90% of the samples in the cohort were sampled. The questionnaire contained a component on demographic component, and sections on math anxiety (MARS-SV) and Trait emotional intelligence questionnaires (TEIQue). The performance of the students in this study was measured by the mean score of math subjects. The result of the study showed that math performance was adversely related to math anxiety. However, Trait EI did not appear to influence math performance and neither did it have an impact on math anxiety. This finding is important as it suggests that more works need to be done to determine the leading predictor of math anxiety in the Malaysian context for subsequent effective intervention.