Saniyatu Nahdliyah, Mochammad Taufiqurrochman, Ahmad Haris Febrianto, Muchammad Taufik, Riska Wahyu Romadhonia
Stress is a psychological response that occurs when the demands placed on an individual exceed their capacity to manage them with the available resources. In higher education, students often experience stress due to various academic and social pressures, which can negatively impact their physical and emotional well-being. This research aims to analyze the stress levels among students in the Mathematics Department at Universitas Negeri Surabaya using the K-Means Clustering method. A total of 108 students participated by completing a questionnaire consisting of 21 questions, which were categorized into four factors: academic achievement, peer environment, committee involvement, and lifestyle. The analysis successfully identified three clusters of stress levels: low, moderate, and high. The determination of the number of clusters was conducted using the Elbow method, which is significant as it helps identify the optimal number of clusters by minimizing within-cluster variance, thus providing a clearer understanding of stress levels. The results revealed that 13 respondents experienced low stress, 41 moderate stress, and 54 high stress. Generally, the academic achievement factor was found to be the most influential on students' stress levels. Within each cluster, lifestyle factors were the most significant for low-level stress, accounting for 27%, while academic achievement impacted both moderate and high levels of stress at 27% and 28%, respectively. These findings suggest that while lifestyle factors play a role in mitigating stress for some, academic pressures remain the primary driver of higher stress levels, with important implications for students' well-being. © 2025 Author(s).
Mathematics Study Program, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia
