An Investigation of Perfectionism and Mental Toughness in Athletes

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This study was conducted to examine the relationship between perfectionism and mental toughness in track and field athletes. A total of 280 track and fieldathletes participated in this study as voluntarily, 105 female (X age = 20.89 ± 2.33) and 175 male (X age = 21.22 ± 3.38). “Sport Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (SÖÇBMÖ)”, “Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire-SMTQ-14 ” and, Personal Information were used as data collection tools in this study. Descriptive statistics, t-test, Pearson Correlation Analysis and canonical correlation analysis were applied in the analysis of the data. The results revealed that, male and female athletes did not differ between perfectionism and mental toughness scores. Further, it also shows that the perfectionism and mental toughness scores of track and field athletes do not differ according to their branch categories and injury status. But, according the nationality of athletes, there was a significant difference in favor of national track and field athletes in the personal sub-dimension of perfectionism and in the control sub-dimension of mental toughness. It was concluded as a result of the canonical correlation analysis conducted to determine whether there is a relationship between the perfectionism and mental toughness scores of track and field athletes which is the main problem of this study that, there was a significant relationship between the perfectionism and mental toughness scores of track and field athletes. In conclusion, considering the findings obtained in the study, it can be said that male and female track and field athletes reflect similar perfectionism characteristics and, their mental toughness are similar. National track and field athletes can be defined as mentally overcontrolled track and field athletes having high personal standards. It can also be said that track and field athletes with positive perfectionism tendencies have high mental toughness but, track and field athletes with negative perfectionism tendencies have less mental toughness.