In 2007 mathematics was made into a compulsory subject in Swedish Teacher Training and the resulting increased requirements in mathematics for all teacher students, regardless of major, offers an occasion to study the affective dimensions in mathematics. The aim is to investigate different reactions demonstrated by teacher students when confronted with the new requirements. Motivation and resistance and the dialectic relationship between them are reviewed in a quantitative and qualitative study. The results shows that learning for teacher students includes the emotional, social and societal dimensions of adult learning and that both motivation and resistance includes a potential for learning.