Mental Toughness Characteristics of Male University Athletes in Relation To Contextual Factors.

Nancy Andanje,Francis Mwangi,Elijah Rintaugu,Tetsuhiro Kidokoro,Xiaojie Tian,Noriyuki Fuku

doi:10.2478/hukin-2022-0019

Abstract

Mental toughness is a psychological construct related to successful performance in academics, management, and sports among other sectors. However, studies on the determinants of mental toughness with respect to different human endeavours have remained inconclusive. This study explored mental toughness characteristics of male university athletes in selected sports in relation to contextual factors of athletes’ age, playing experience, year of study, and the type of sport. The Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ48) was used to collect data from male university athletes (n = 140). Results of this study showed significant difference in the following components of MT: lower scores in challenge (p = .015), emotional control (p = .005), and life control (p = .002) among athletes with shorter playing experience, and higher scores in life control (p < .001), emotional control (p = .021), and confidence in abilities (p = .009) in handball as compared to soccer players. Soccer players had significantly higher scores in the challenge component (p = .038) of mental toughness as compared to handball players. It was concluded that playing experience and the type of sport influenced characteristics of mental toughness among university athletes. Coaches, trainers, and sports psychologists need to consider these contextual factors to optimize mental toughness of athletes. Future studies should explore how specific contextual factors influence training environments and outcomes, as well as how stakeholders can leverage on the relationships between playing experience, the type of sport and mental toughness to augment athletes’ mental toughness and sports performance.

Highlights

Mental toughness (MT) is considered to be a multifaceted psychological construct constituting cognitive, affective, and behavioural dimensions (Connaughton and Hanton, 2009; Gucciardi, 2012)
With regard to athletes’ playing experience in the university team, the majority of participants had played for the university team for two years (n = 52; 37.1%) followed by those who had played for three years (n = 46; 32.9%)
The results show that athletes’ mean scores regarding different components of mental toughness were highest in the challenge component followed by the mean scores for commitment, emotional control, interpersonal confidence, confidence in abilities, and life control in decreasing order

Summary

Introduction

Mental toughness (MT) is considered to be a multifaceted psychological construct constituting cognitive, affective, and behavioural dimensions (Connaughton and Hanton, 2009; Gucciardi, 2012). This concept is associated with increased stress resilience, successful stress management, and psychological well-being (Gerber et al, 2012). Clough et al (2002) affirmed that mental toughness is composed of subscales of challenge (associated with performing well in challenging situations), commitment (not giving up under pressure), life, emotional control (perceived high control over the outcomes of one’s performance), confidence in abilities, and interpersonal confidence (associated with unshakable belief in abilities).

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Conclusion