Bodily maps of subject-specific feelings and academic emotions among high school students

BACKGROUND: Learning is an embodied process in which emotion and cognition converge through the body’s expressive patterns. However, the bodily manifestation of learning-related emotions, potential gender differences in these patterns, and their impact on academic performance remain unclear. We examined high school students’ bodily sensation maps (BSMs) during learning across different school subject contexts within the Chinese high-school curriculum, and assessed their associations with gender and academic achievement. METHODS: This study mapped high school students’ BSMs across subject-specific feelings and academic emotions, examining gender differences and links with academic achievement. A total of 588 students marked body regions of increased or decreased activity on two-dimensional silhouettes in response to nine subjects and five academic emotions. Statistical analyses examined learning-related BSM patterns, gender differences, and relationships with academic performance. RESULTS: Distinct embodied profiles emerged: humanities subjects primarily activated the head and distal upper limbs, whereas science subjects engaged the head, chest, and proximal upper limbs. Positive emotions elicited widespread bodily activation, while negative emotions induced localized or global deactivation. Gender differences were minimal in learning contexts but evident for anxiety, with females showing stronger head and torso activation. BSMs were positively correlated with academic achievement (particularly in English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and History), suggesting that bodily responses mirror the interplay of cognitive engagement and emotional arousal. CONCLUSIONS: These findings reveal systematic embodied signatures of subject-specific feelings and academic emotions, elucidating how cognitive and emotional processes are integrated in the body. They provide actionable insights for personalized, emotion-sensitive, and domain-specific educational practices.