Mother and Child Emotions during Mathematics Homework

Abstract

Mathematics is often thought of as a purely intellectual and unemotional activity. Recently, researchers have begun to question the validity of this approach, arguing that emotions and cognition are intertwined. The emotions expressed during mathematics work may be linked to mathematics achievement. We used behavioral measures to identify the emotions expressed by U.S. mothers and their 11-year-old children while solving pre-algebra tasks in the home. The most notable positive emotions displayed by mothers and children included positive interest, affection, joy, and pride, whereas the most notable negative emotions expressed included tension, frustration, and distress. Reflecting the social aspects of doing homework together, mothers' and children's emotions were highly correlated. Independent of pre-existing differences in knowledge, children's emotions were associated with their performance on a mathematics post-test: tension was linked to poorer performance while positive interest, humor, and pride were linked to better performance. We found no evidence of gender differences in the emotions while working the tasks, although boys responded with more tension following an incorrect solution than did girls.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research was supported by grant REC 0207109 from the National Science Foundation and the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin. Portions of these data were presented at the 2006 biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence in San Francisco, California, USA. The authors thank the families from the Wisconsin Study of Families and Work who gave their time to this project. They also thank the research assistants who collected data and coded videotapes: Jen Aakre, Julie Bain, Jamie Brenner, Paul Creswell, Melissa Flitsch, Nick Haen, Liza Hirsch, Lauren Kolb, Missy Langer, Kathryn May, Matthew Mihlbauer, Matt Pace, Dana Quinn, Eric Ritland, Jessica Schiltz, Renée Stevenson, Lesley Veverka, and Sara Wolfgram.