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Mental toughness: Managerial and age differences
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate whether employees at various levels of managerial positions (e.g. senior, middle, and junior) exhibit different levels of mental toughness. In addition, the study seeks to explore possible effects of age on mental toughness. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 522 participants working in UK-based organisations completed demographic information and the Mental Toughness Questionnaire. Findings – Results revealed significant main effects for both managerial position and age. Follow-up analysis revealed that mental toughness ratings were higher in more senior positions, and that mental toughness generally increased with age. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of the study is its cross-sectional design. Longitudinal studies investigating the development of mental toughness over time or the effect of mental toughness training are needed. It appears, however, that age plays a role in an individual's mental toughness profile. This suggests that increased exposure to significant life events may have a positive developmental effect on mental toughness. Originality/value – The results of the study would suggest that mental toughness can be developed through appropriate training programmes.
... MT enhances performance at work (Gucciardi et al., 2015), increases with age (Marchant et al., 2009) and reduces stress among teachers (Ward et al., 2018) and policemen (Burnett et al., 2020). Moreover, Clough and Strycharczyk (2012) propose that employees with MT are open to learning, show resilience, confidence and perform consistently in adverse circumstances. ...
... These findings are supported by multiple researchers (Lin et al. (2017); Gucciardi, 2017Gucciardi, , 2020. Nonetheless, Marchant et al. (2009) posit that MT is a trait like construct. A convincing note on this contradiction is presented by Lin et al. (2017) as their findings report a positive connection between age and MT. ...
... Thus far, MT as a component for optimal performance has been studied in the context of sports, military (Arthur et al., 2015;Ward et al., 2018), learning and education (St Clair- Thompson et al., 2015Thompson et al., , 2017 and workplaces to some extent (Klette, 2017;Marchant et al., 2009). We first discuss the extant literature on MT among employees and then elaborate the coverage of MT literature in sports, academic, and military contexts. ...
Purpose
Time and again, scholars have emphasized the vitality of mental toughness for success in performance-oriented contexts. Despite the awareness about the significance of mental toughness, there is ambiguity in the conceptual consensus of the factors that comprise of the construct in an organizational setup. Second, there is a dearth of a psychometrically sound measure that assesses mental toughness among employees.
Design/methodology/approach
The study follows a multi-method approach to develop a mental toughness questionnaire. First, to arrive at a consensus of the factors that construe mental toughness, a meta-ethnography was done. Subsequently, a measure of mental toughness was developed and tested following scale development norms.
Findings
Drawing from the results of qualitative inquiry, four factors of mental toughness were derived, namely, perseverance, control, challenge and commitment. Then, the scale development process was followed. Results of psychometric testing using three samples were above the acceptable range, justifying the use of developed scale for academic and professional purposes.
Originality/value
This study is a novel attempt in the literature to extract factors of mental toughness through meta-ethnography and consequently develop a scale.
... Originating and rooted in sport psychology, mental toughness refers to the tendency to appraise threats and pressure as opportunities to thrive (Thelwell, Weston, & Greenlees, 2005), actively seek and approach challenges (Crust, 2008;Jones, Hanton, & Connaughton, 2002), and successfully overcome or rebound rapidly following setbacks and difficulties (Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2008). While there is agreement that mental toughness promotes achievement and success in a wide number of domains, such as education (Crust et al., 2014), the military (Arthur, Fitzwater, Hardy, Beattie, & Bell, 2015), and the workplace (Marchant et al., 2009), researchers continue to deliberate over the definition, conceptualization, and measurement of mental toughness. (Leigh, 1999). ...
... Positive associations with optimism (Nicholls, Polman, Levy, & Backhouse, 2008), coping effectiveness (Nicholls, Levy, Polman, & Crust, 2011), and negative relationships with stress (Gerber, Kalak, et al., 2013) and depression , support the convergent validity of the instrument. The measure's discriminative power has been supported in that individuals employed at higher levels (Marchant et al., 2009) and athletes competing at higher competitive standards (Crust & Azadi, 2010) have been found to report higher mental toughness. Scores on the MTQ48 have corresponded positively with physical endurance (Crust & Clough, 2005) and academic achievement (Crust et al., 2014), demonstrating the criterion validity of the measure. ...
... and composite reliability (CR ¼ .90) for the total mental toughness scale (Crust & Keegan, 2010;Crust et al., 2014;Gerber, Kalak, et al., 2013;Nicholls et al., 2008Nicholls et al., , 2015Marchant et al., 2009). In this study, Cronbach's alpha for total mental toughness was .89. ...
Young people are particularly vulnerable to health risk behaviors and interpersonal violence, stimulating scholars’ attention towards identifying factors that may reduce the likelihood that these actions will occur. Associated with positive outcomes in a variety of domains, mental toughness in young people might protect them from engaging in potentially deleterious interpersonal or health-risk behaviors, while potentially promoting positive psychological behaviors. Within this framework, the present study investigated the relationships between mental toughness, attitudes towards physical and psychological risk-taking, and trait forgiveness in a sample of 123 (males = 54, females = 69) South African youth (M age = 23.97 years, SD = 4.46). Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated higher levels of mental toughness were associated with being more forgiving, (η2p = .036), perceiving physical risk-taking more positively (η2p = .062), but having more negative attitudes towards psychological risk-taking (η2p = .036). These findings give credence to mental toughness as a psychological characteristic involved in youth risk-taking perceptions and interpersonal functioning. Future research might explore the integration of mental toughness into the development of future youth risk behavior interventions.
... Moreover, Clough, one of the fundamental individuals involved in the coining of MT, suggests it is a trait-like dimension of personality (Marchant et al., 2009). Traits are often thought of as what one is born with (Ashton, 2013), suggesting that MT is an attribution that is innate. ...
... As stated there has been increasing interest in the concept MT (Dewhurst et al., 2012), as those reporting high will almost definitely achieve desirable work (Marchant et al., 2009) and life outcomes (Jones et al., 2007). Such a useful 'trait' has been found to rise as a consequence of life experience, suggesting age holds influence on MT (Marchant et al., 2009). ...
... As stated there has been increasing interest in the concept MT (Dewhurst et al., 2012), as those reporting high will almost definitely achieve desirable work (Marchant et al., 2009) and life outcomes (Jones et al., 2007). Such a useful 'trait' has been found to rise as a consequence of life experience, suggesting age holds influence on MT (Marchant et al., 2009). Further research enquiring this statement proves contrary, suggesting it is depedent upon emotional maturity and independent of age (Mauno, Ruokolainen, & Kinnunen, 2013) This research will investigate these contradictory findings, because if EI training could enhance MT like many of the above findings suggest (Clough et al.,2002;Sheard et al., 2009) then young employees could reap the benefits of being high in MT at an earlier stage in their career as opposed to leaving its development to the passage of time. ...
Potential optimisation found as a concomitant of mental-toughness, however productive internal activities is what distinguishes such a potential and such activities are governed by emotions.This studies aim was identifying connections of this sort proposing how emotional-intelligence can facilitate our nation’s workforce to meet, with enhanced happiness their professional potential.A quantitative, cross-sectional and correlational design was employed comprising 109 purposively sampled employees of mixed age, sex and performance level. Each completing the scales; Mental-toughness, Genos EI-inventory and Subjective-Happiness. Analysis supported four of five hypotheses, revealing that mental-toughness an attribute that rises with age, is associated with increased workplace performance, which can in fact lead to enhanced happiness, both consequences derived from mental-toughness, evidently a favourable attribute and one that shows promise in being enhanced by both sexes via the trainable trait emotional-intelligence. Henceforth the deliberate integration of emotional-intelligent training into specific populations of our nation’s workforce appears an investment worth consideration.
... Individuals' level of MT can also play a significant role in career advancement. Marchant et al. (2009) investigated the relationship between mental toughness and managerial positions in a sample of 522 participants working in UK-based organizations. Higher levels of MT were associated with more senior managerial positions and tended to increase with age. ...
... The purpose of Study 2 was to explore the degree to which individual differences in MT are associated with job income, a marker of objective career success, in a sample of working participants. In addition, we expected levels of MT to increase with age, as shown in the study by Marchant et al. (2009). The notion that MT increases with age has important implications, as it suggests that MT can be developed over time with increasing life experiences, which in turn contributes to career advancement. ...
... This finding provides support to the relevance of MT in organizational settings. It aligns closely with previous research which demonstrated that greater MT was related to better work performance ( Gucciardi et al., 2015) and more senior managerial positions ( Marchant et al., 2009). However, due to the crosssectional nature of the study, we cannot dismiss the alternative explanation that people with higher income may feel more satisfied and engaged with their job ( Judge et al., 2002), and in turn lead to increased level of MT through the work process. ...
Mental toughness (MT) has been related to high performance in competitive situations. The current studies tested whether individual differences in MT were associated with success in two achievement domains: higher education and work. Academic performance and attendance were assessed over three years in a British university sample. MT was associated with higher average academic grades (Study 1). Individual differences in MT predicted individuals' income, controlling for age and gender (Study 2). The results suggest that MT entails positive psychological resources that are important for academic and career success. Future research aiming at exploring the factors that contribute to variation in MT and the mechanisms that underlie the association between MT and achievement may have significant implications for predicting and optimizing performance in various domains.
Keywords
Mental toughness; Academic performance; Career success; Achievement
... Consequentially, they persist in reaching their goals (Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2009a). Although MT was initially predominantly applied in the sport arena (Crust & Keegan, 2010), it is now being researched in other performance environments such as the workplace (Godlewski & Kline, 2012;Marchant et al., 2009) and education (McGeown, St Clair-Thompson, & Clough, 2016;St Clair-Thompson et al., 2015). ...
... Omega is a more sensible index of internal consistency than Cronbach's α due to less risk for over-/ underestimation of reliability (Dunn, Baguley, & Brunsden, 2014). Since previous research indicated that MT increases with age (Marchant et al., 2009), we included age as a covariate in all analyses. Separate analyses without age as a covariate were performed and yielded similar results (not reported here). ...
Mental Toughness (MT) provides crucial psychological capacities for achievement in sports, education, and work settings. Previous research examined the role of MT in the domain of mental health and showed that MT is negatively associated with and predictive of fewer depressive symptoms in non-clinical populations. The present study aimed at 1) investigating to what extent mentally tough individuals use two emotion regulation strategies: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression; 2) exploring whether individual differences in emotion regulation strategy use mediate the relationship between MT and depressive symptoms. Three hundred sixty-four participants (M = 24.31 years, SD = 9.16) provided self-reports of their levels of MT, depressive symptoms, and their habitual use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. The results showed a statistically significant correlation between MT and two commonly used measures of depressive symptoms. A small statistically significant positive correlation between MT and the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal was also observed. The correlation between MT and the habitual use of expressive suppression was statistically significant, but the size of the effect was small. A statistical mediation model indicated that individual differences in the habitual use of expressive suppression mediate the relationship between MT and depressive symptoms. No such effect was found for the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal. Implications of these findings and possible avenues for future research are discussed.
Keywords: mental toughness, depression, emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression
... There are a number of instruments to assess MT (e.g., Australian Football Mental Toughness Inventory, Gucciardi et al., 2009), which are focused on assessing MT within elite sport. The MTQ48 (Clough et al., 2002) is a more generic measure of MT which can be used in everyday lifestyle behaviours, for example academic performance (Crust et al., 2014a) or business performance (Marchant et al., 2009). The instrument development placed great emphasis on the conceptual underpinning (Clough et al., 2002). ...
... The generalisability of components in the MTQ48, such as interpersonal confidence, enables application to areas outside of sport (Crust & Swann, 2011). The MTQ48 has previously been applied in areas such as education (Crust et al., 2014a), business (Marchant et al., 2009), psychological wellbeing (Stamp et al., 2015), coping (Nicholls, Polman, Levy, & Backhouse, 2008) and physical activity (Gerber et al., 2012). The high applicability across life domains makes the MTQ48 appropriate for investigating MT in relation to lifestyle behaviour. ...
Dietary behaviour of university students is a growing concern and a potential contributor to weight gain during university studies. Individual differences may be one factor that influences how students respond and adapt when entering a new environment. Mental toughness (MT) is an individual difference which has previously been found to be significantly and positively related to health behaviours (e.g., physical activity, psychological wellbeing), thus it was hypothesised that MT would predict eating behaviours of university students. Undergraduate students (n = 167) completed an online questionnaire to assess MT and eating behaviours. Students were included from all three years of undergraduate study and from a range of courses at nine UK institutions. Pearson correlations were conducted between MT variables and eating behaviour variables. The MT component life control displayed the strongest relationship with healthy eating (r = 0.24, p < .001). Regression analysis found weak relationships between the components of MT that were related to eating behaviours. Thus, factors other than MT may play a greater role influencing eating behaviours of university students. It may be that MT is more important in adhering to programmes to change dietary behvaiours, rather than simply eating healthily.
... 8 Mental toughness is seen as an asset in many fields, including athletics, 1,2,[4][5][6][7]9 military and police forces, 10 and business. 11 Many of these areas have dedicated training to help develop mental toughness. Despite a plethora of techniques and resources available, there is very little training within surgical residency to specifically help trainees perform under pressure, other than the development of clinical and technical skills. ...
... This would be another potential area of study and may help explain variations in mental toughness. Age is also known to affect mental toughness, 11 although we were unable to show any statistically significant trends in mental toughness and age, likely owing to the narrow age range among residents and the wide age range and small numbers of staff. Although not statistically significant, a higher proportion of staff than residents reported using specific techniques to help deal with stressful situations, which may have contributed to the difference in MTI scores as well. ...
Background:
Mental toughness is crucial to high-level performance in stressful situations. However, there is no formal evaluation or training in mental toughness in surgery. Our objective was to examine differences in mental toughness between staff and resident surgeons, and whether there is an interest in improving this attribute.
Methods:
We distributed a survey containing the Mental Toughness Index (domains of self-belief, attention regulation, emotion regulation, success mindset, context knowledge, buoyancy, optimism and adversity capacity) among general surgery residents and staff at 3 Canadian academic institutions. Responses were recorded on a 7-point Likert scale. Participants were also asked about techniques they used to help them perform under pressure and interest in further developing mental toughness.
Results:
Eighty-three of 193 surgeons participated: 56/105 (52.8%) residents and 27/87 (31.0%) staff. The average age was 29 (standard deviation 5) years and 42 (standard deviation 8) years, respectively. Residents scored significantly lower than staff in all mental toughness domains. Men scored significantly higher than women in attention regulation and emotion regulation. Age, staff experience and resident postgraduate year were not significantly associated with mental toughness scores. Twenty residents (36%) and 17 staff (63%) reported using specific techniques to deal with stressful situations; 49 (88%) and 15 (56%), respectively, were interested in further developing mental toughness.
Conclusion:
Staff surgeons scored significantly higher than residents in all mental toughness domains measured. Both groups expressed a desire to improve mental toughness. There are many techniques to improve mental toughness, and further research is needed to assess their effectiveness in surgical training.
... De um ponto de vista prático e dada a magnitude da relação obtida entre a robustez mental e a intenção de abandono, os resultados deste estudo sugerem que esta pode constituir um preditor útil desta variável critério, como também contribuir para a intervenção no sentido de mitigar os níveis efectivos de abandono. Apesar de necessitar de maior investigação, alguns estudos mostram que a robustez mental sofre influência de fatores situacionais, podendo ser desenvolvida através da intervenção e treino de competências (i.e., Gucciardi, Gordon & Dimmock 2009;Marchant, Polman, Clough, Jackson, Levy, & Nicholls, 2009). ...
Mental toughness represents a psychological construct that has been receiving a growing interest in the scope of research regarding the antecedents of individual performance in academic settings. The current study was developed at higher education level, aiming to examine the psychometric properties of Mental Toughness Index (MTI, Gucciardi, Hanton, Gordon, Mallet, & Temby, 2015). Results, from a sample of 152 undergraduates, were consistent with previous research supporting the unifatorial structure and internal consistency of this instrument. Further analyses have shown that mental toughness constitutes a valid and meaningful predictor of students’ dropout intentions. The major implications of these findings are presented and discussed.
... Gucciardi's (2017) characterisation recognises both the traditional roots of MT and its contemporary application to a range of settings. These I n r e v i e w PSYCHOMETRIC ASSESSMENT 3 include sport (Meggs, Chen, & Hoehn, 2018), education (Gerber et al., 2013a;St Clair-Thompson et al., 2015;Haghighi, & Gerber, 2018), occupational (Marchant et al., 2009), and health (Brand et al., 2014;Sadeghi Bahmani et al., 2016b;Kruger, 2018) (see Clough & Strycharczyk, 2012;Coulter, Mallett, & Gucciardi, 2010). ...
The 18-item Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ-18) is a brief, widely used measure of
mental toughness. The MTQ-18 derives from the longer MTQ-48, which comprises four
independent but correlated factors (Challenge, Commitment, Control and Confidence). Despite sampling items from across MTQ-48 dimensions, the MTQ-18 (as intended) provides a global, unidimensional score. Researchers have recently developed a further abridged version of the MTQ-18, the MTQ-10, which has demonstrated promising psychometric performance. The current paper assessed the factorial structure, reliability, predictive validity and invariance of the MTQ-18 and MTQ-10 in a sample of 944 students from English independent schools (year 11, aged 16 years). Respondents completed the MTQ-18 items online alongside the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the MTQ-10 was a superior general measure, because the MTQ-18 possessed additional variance to that accounted for by a unidimensional solution. Additionally, the MTQ-10 evidenced higher factor loadings and demonstrated better data-model fit. Tests of concurrent validity revealed the MTQ-10 was a stronger predictor of well-being (life satisfaction). Both the MTQ-18 and MTQ-10 demonstrated gender invariance at the configural, metric and scalar level. Overall, although the MTQ-18 was a psychometrically acceptable measure, the MTQ-10 was a superior unidimensional measure of MT.
... These findings are consistent with previous research on the positive relationship between employees age, years of experience, leadership position, and resilience (e.g. Carson and Bedeian, 1994;London, 1993;Marchant et al., 2009). Older workers are expected to possess higher job-related skills and self-management resources, developed over time, enabling them to apply more active coping strategies when faced with demanding job situations (Hertel et al., 2015). ...
Purpose
It is well established that greater resilience buffers the negative effects of adverse events and conditions, allowing the affected individual to recover adequately. Resilience is a core trait for public relations practitioners, due to the challenging and pressure-laden nature of their work. However, as an individual-level trait, this phenomenon remains underexplored in the communication field. The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensionality and measurement invariance of the 25-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (Connor and Davidson, 2003), evaluate the level of resilience and identify predictors of resilience among Latin American public relations practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
A population of 898 public relations professionals from 18 Latin American countries working on different hierarchical levels, both in communication departments and agencies across the region were surveyed.
Findings
CD-RISC global scorings show direct correlations with age, years of experience, type of organization, hierarchy and social media skills. However, education, salary, gender or working in an excellent, successful and influential communication department were not predictors of resilience. Additionally, results provide supporting evidence that the CD-RISC has good psychometric properties and can be used as a reliable and valid tool to assess resilience among Latin American public relations practitioners.
Research limitations/implications
As in any study using self-report measures, the results may have been influenced by participants’ acquiescence and need for social desirability. Greater participation is needed from some countries to allow for a more comprehensive comparative analysis.
Practical implications
Identifying factors that protect against negative outcomes is important for the development of strengths-based approaches that emphasize resilience. Moreover, in predicting the ability to tolerate stress and its negative effects, this study may help in the selection of personnel who will manage tougher job demands.
Originality/value
Research on the concept of resilience has gained substantial momentum over the past decades and has become a multidisciplinary field of research spanning a variety of theoretical and conceptual positions. However, practitioner resilience has not formally addressed in the public relations research, with the sole exception of the qualitative research conducted by Guo and Anderson in 2018 using a critical incident technique approach. This field provides an intriguing context to study resilience because practitioners are regularly engaged in work that may require the ability to “bounce back” from challenging work.
... Also, psychology focuses on decision-making and finally it comes up with expressing the fact that psychology proposes suggestions for changing the personality characteristics and how it can be helpful in improving the individuals' managerial ability. Marchant et al. (2009) conducted the study "mental strength, managerial differences and age". The objective of the study was to survey if the staff in various managerial levels (for instance, senior, medium and low) exhibits various levels of stubbornness. ...
... In other words, it can be stated that the older the athletes get, the stronger the mental toughness they have. In parallel with our results, Yarayan et al. (2018), Crust et al. (2014), Marchant et al. (2009) and Nicholls et al. (2009) also reported that mental toughness develops as the one gets older. It was found that the variables experience, branch and gender have no effect on the variable mental toughness at 10% level. ...
The aim of this study was to determine whether mental toughness levels of athletes engaged in the elite-level team and individual sports in Ankara and Erzurum were predictors of moral disengagement in sports. The sample of the study consisted of randomly-selected 515 athletes who were actively engaged in sports in their clubs in 2017. The “Moral Disengagement in Sport Scale-Short” (MDSS) developed by Boardley and Kavussanu (2008) and adapted to Turkish by Gülpınar (2015), and the “Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire” (SMTQ) developed by Sheard et al. (2009) and adapted to Turkish by Pehlivan (2014) were used as data collection tools. In the analysis of the data, frequency, percentage, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient and linear regression analysis were utilized. As a result of the analyzes, no significant difference was found between confidence, one of the sub-scales of the SMTQ, and moral disengagement, but there was a weak positive significant relationship between the constancy and control sub-scales. As a result of the linear regression analysis, it was found that moral disengagement predicted the constancy and control sub-scales significantly and explained 4% and 3% of the variance, respectively, but it was found that the confidence sub-scale was not predicted significantly.
... Beyond the sports coaching context, first empirical research, for instance, exists regarding the MT of students, employees, army candidates (Gucciardi et al. 2015), managers (Marchant et al., 2009), academic performance (Lin, Clough, Welch, & Papageorgiou, 2017), "non-athletes" (Guillén & Laborde, 2014, p. 30), and business in more general (Williams, 2014). However, it is still quite unclear to what extent and how MT can be transferred across different contexts and what such a transfer means to the core concept and its features. ...
This thesis concerns the transfer of Mental Toughness from elite triathlon coaching to top executive coaching in Germany. It analyses how experienced coaches from both contexts understand the concept of Mental Toughness and their views about the ways and the extent to which Mental Toughness may be applicable in German executive coaching. This study is important because it investigates the relevance of Mental Toughness, which is an eminent concept in sports coaching, in an executive coaching context where it has never been subject to empirical research. The value to the research field of executive coaching is that Mental Toughness might offer new ways of understanding how coaching can help with translating goals into action. In addition, practitioners could profit from applying Mental Toughness in improving the client’s ability to withstand better hindrances and challenges, which is one central claim of mental toughness as it is interpreted in the sports literature.
The research design for this study is qualitative. Data from 22 interviews with international elite triathlon coaches and German top executive coaches in a one-moment-in-time sampling approach are used to answer the research questions. The findings and analysis reveal that mental toughness can be relevant and valuable in the coaching of German top executives as an important supplement to existing coaching processes. Findings suggest that mental toughness, as a feature of coaching, can build awareness and sensitivity to issues of long-term persistence. The study advances executive coaching theory and practice and shows how Mental Toughness could be integrated into executive coaching theory in its focus on goal pursuit persistence energy.
... Success and mental toughness go hand in hand irrespective of demographics (sector, nationality, gender, race, etc.). On the contrary, a study (Marchant et al., 2009) on mental toughness among organizations reported that more senior the manager, the greater the level of mental toughness. Senior managers were more mentally tough when compared to middle line or junior managers. ...
Mental toughness facilitates a psychological edge to a sports player. It helps an individual perform better than his/her opponents and strive to succeed under pressure. Although its implications for organizations were outlined at its conception, there is a dearth of literature pertaining to the construct. Therefore, this paper is an attempt to provide an overview of mental toughness and its importance at the workplace. Following a brief review of the construct, the article discusses the potential avenues for future research in terms of theory and method. Studying the role of mental toughness and its importance may serve beneficial to practicing managers in keeping their employees grounded to the workplace. The outlook of any organization is to recruit and develop a workforce that performs to the best of its abilities and a one which develops a positive attitude towards the operational and commercial confronts faced by the organizations. Researchers may draw the importance of mental toughness through this article on build upon the gaps identified.
... Mental toughness is a blend of personality characteristics that allows for excellence in achievement, where this ability is important for someone to have identification and development that can be done regularly even though there will be challenges of difficulty and pressure (Coulter, Mallett, & Singer, 2018). Not only in sports, but mental toughness is also studied in the scope of management to differentiate the level of the mental toughness of workers in several managerial levels (Marchant, Polman, Clough, Jackson, & Levy, 2013). ...
... While MT emerged from sport psychology, it has been studied in other contexts (for review see Lin et al. 2017). For example, in the business context, individuals with high MT have occupied senior management positions in greater proportions (Marchant et al. 2009). Recently, researchers have shown that MT can lead to better school outcomes (Crust et al. 2014;St Clair-Thompson et al. 2014). ...
Recent studies posit that mental toughness is a relevant construct for predicting achievement outcomes in academic settings. It is a multidimensional construct that encapsulates psychological resources that facilitate consistent performance despite stressors and challenges. However, recent evidence has called into question its multidimensional aspect. The first purpose of this study was to verify, using a bi-factor model, if mental toughness can be operationalized by (a) multiple dimensions, (b) a general factor, or (c) both a general factor and multiple dimensions. The second goal was to test the nomological validity of the construct. Specifically, we verified whether the specific factors predict, beyond the general factor, academic achievement and preference for difficult tasks. Using a correlational cross-sectional design in which 515 high school students (58.8% girls; M age = 15.68; SD = 1.05) were asked to complete a questionnaire, we found that mental toughness is best conceptualized by a general factor. More specifically, most loadings are higher on the mental toughness general factor than on the specific dimensions. Furthermore, the mental toughness general factor predicts better school achievement and preference for difficult tasks than the specific factors. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for theory and practice.
... The resilient leadership course was a strange blend of what could be called 'soft' techniques to help participants manage stress (such as relaxation and visualisation techniques) and the 'hard' science of the use and interpreta- tion of a psychological tool known (somewhat ominously, I thought) as MTQ48. This stands for 'Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48' and aims to measure "total mental toughness, as well as its subcomponents" (Marchant et al., 2009, p. 429), the latter being: Control, Commitment, Challenge and Confidence. ...
Learning and leadership are closely related and so, in this chapter, the author considers how creativity might be applied to these two important areas of mental health practice. Beginning with a series of reflections, the chapter examines the nature of leadership, seen as a complex interaction between the leader and the social and organisational environment. It examines resilient leadership and the unhelpful confusion between management development and leadership development. Different leadership styles are considered with a particular focus on transformational leadership. The concept of servant leadership is explored as well as Beghetto’s description of creative leadership. The chapter concludes by suggesting transformational and servant leadership have much in common with creative leadership, which involves both role-modelling everyday creativity and establishing a creative organisational climate.
... Increasing attention has been directed to the relationship between MT and performance in domains other than sport or education. The association between MT and work performance was first documented by Marchant et al. (2009) who showed that higher levels of MT were associated with more senior managerial positions in a sample of 522 individuals working in United Kingdom-based organizations. However, due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, it was unclear whether MT contributed to career achievement or whether holding more senior managerial positions helped develop higher levels of MT. ...
Mental toughness (MT) is an umbrella term that entails positive psychological resources, which are crucial across a wide range of achievement contexts and in the domain of mental health. We systematically review empirical studies that explored the associations between the concept of MT and individual differences in learning, educational and work performance, psychological well-being, personality, and other psychological attributes. Studies that explored the genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in MT are also reviewed. The findings suggest that MT is associated with various positive psychological traits, more efficient coping strategies and positive outcomes in education and mental health. Approximately 50% of the variation in MT can be accounted for by genetic factors. Furthermore, the associations between MT and psychological traits can be explained mainly by either common genetic or nonshared environmental factors. Taken together, our findings suggest a ‘mental toughness advantage’ with possible implications for developing interventions to facilitate achievement in a variety of settings.
... In comparison, wage earners often have less time and more working pressure and family commitments, which influence their participation in PA. Moreover, MT generally increased with age (Marchant et al., 2009;Lin et al., 2017). Therefore, we consider that the contribution of TPB constructs on intention and the correlation of MT, PA intention, and behavior may be different among college students and wage earners. ...
This study explored the correlation between mental toughness (MT) and physical activity (PA), and the moderation role between PA intention and subsequent behavior among college students and wage earners. Five hundred ninety-one college students (251 male, 340 female) aged from 19 to 24 and 285 (157 male, 127 female) wage earners aged from 27 to 58 recruited from seven colleges and five cities in China. A Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) questionnaire, MT Inventory, and the International PA Questionnaire was completed online. Results showed that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control explained 46.5 and 38.3% variance in PA intention among college students and wage earners separately. Intention predicted PA behavior significantly among college students and wage earners. Structural equation modeling indicated that the TPB model and the moderation model have an adequate to good fit except the TPB model among wage earners. MT was positively correlated with PA among college students and wage earners and had a significant moderation role in intention-behavior gap among college students and partially affected the transfer of PA intention to behavior among college students. Individuals with high MT had high levels of PA regardless of intention, while PA of those with low MT was low and unstable. Future research should further explore the correlation between intention and PA and the moderation role of MT in different populations using a longitudinal study in order to better understand the correlation between intention and PA, and the transition from intention to PA and better guidance PA intervention to promote PA.
... Previous research (e.g. Marchant et al., 2009) has shown that demographic variables, such as age, can influence MT. Prior to exploring the relationships between MT and DT traits, we investigated the potential effects of age, gender and education on the MT and DT traits. ...
The Dark Triad (DT) involves three closely related personality traits: narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism. Mental toughness (MT) is a multi-facet trait that entails positive psychological resources, which are important across a range of achievement contexts. Research that examined the association between MT and the DT returned mixed findings. The present study aimed at: (1) exploring the association between MT and the DT using a considerable larger sample in comparison to previous studies; (2) investigating whether MT mediates the association between narcissism with psychopathy and Machiavellianism. The mediation model revealed that narcissism exerts significant negative indirect effects on both psychopathy and Machiavellianism, through MT. The implications of these findings for reducing socially undesirable outcomes, often linked to the DT, are discussed.
... These results partially agree with the findings of Crust and Keegan (2010) that the global scores on mental toughness were not associated with age and that only selected © Editorial Committee of Journal of Human Kinetics components were correlated with age. On the other hand, other studies have indicated greater levels of mental toughness with increasing age (Gould et al., 2002;Marchant et al., 2009;Nicholls et al., 2009). Cowden and Meyer-Weitz (2016) also reported significant differences regarding mental toughness among tennis players in South Africa based on the age and playing experience. ...
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.
... Athletes high in mental toughness are able to cope with stress during a competition and to remain more focused and confident (see [12] for a more comprehensive overview). Clough et al.'s concept of mental toughness has in addition been successfully employed outside the area of sports psychology including in the field of developmental psychology among children, adolescents and adults, among lower, middle, and senior managers (see [12], and among administrative workers in early, middle and late adulthood [13,14]. To further investigate the concept of mental toughness, a longitudinal study with 77 adolescents showed that greater prosocial behavior, less negative peer relationships, and lower internalizing and externalizing problems, all rated at the age five by parents and teachers, were associated with self-reported greater mental toughness and fewer sleep disturbances at the age of 14.35 years [12]. ...
... 18). The MT model that we propose retains the traditional principles of the early definitions and its contemporary application to a range of settings including sport (Meggs & Chen, 2018), education (Gerber et al., 2013;Haghighi & Gerber, 2018 ;, occupational (Marchant et al., 2009) and health contexts (Brand et al., 2014;Clough & Strycharczyk, 2012;Kruger, 2018). A pioneer of MT research, Clough and his colleague Strycharczyk define MT as: ...
There is an increasing awareness that higher education (HE) institutions face significant challenges in managing and supporting students as they transition into university life. If HE institutions struggle to achieve this important aim, this can lead to an increase in student drop-out. This can of course present significant financial implications and challenges and worse still, result in mental health challenges in students. The concept of Mental Toughness (MT) has been shown in a substantial number of investigations, to develop our understanding of why some people might be more vulnerable to these pressures than others. Importantly, it provides both a means of identifying those people and insights about ways they can be best supported. This chapter proposes a well-researched MT framework to facilitate and support universities with these challenges and highlights three key strategies for managing this successfully.
... Orga nizations are perhaps better able to deal with, and reward, active copers than they are emotional copers. A key player in all relationships at work is the leader, who tends to be tougher than the average (e.g., Marchant et al., 2009). This could mean they are liable to bruise their sensitive colleagues. ...
Resilience at work continues to be a major focus of both research and applied work. Often it is viewed in isolation from other perspectives and is rarely linked to positive psychology. This chapter deals with mental toughness, providing one specific approach to linking resilience and positive psychology to the world of work. The positive psychology movement, spearheaded by the seminal work of Seligman and Csikszentmihayli, offers perhaps the best framework to understand psychological well-being. The chapter discusses stress-related growth, which is known to occur following a period of reflection and contemplation and occurs through changes in views of the self, such as greater self-acceptance; increasing value of personal relationships; and changes in life philosophy, such as re-evaluating what really matters. It also explores how positive emotions such as joy and interest can create broader thinking that helps to build personal resources, and facilitate personal growth through positive or adaptive spirals of emotion.
... In a recent review, Lin, Mutz, Clough, and Papageorgiou (2017) defined mental toughness as "an umbrella term that entails positive psychological resources, which are important across a range of achievement contexts" (pp.1-2). Contexts in which mental toughness has been shown to have positive effects include sport (e.g., Crust & Azadi, 2010;Kaiseler, Polman, & Nicholls, 2009;Levy, Polman, Clough, Marchant, & Earle, 2006), the workplace (Marchant et al., 2009), education (St Clair-Thompson et al., 2015, and the military (Godlewski & Kline, 2012). More generally, mental toughness has been shown to be positively related to life satisfaction and negatively related to depressive symptoms (Gerber et al., 2013). ...
Previous research by the authors (Dewhurst, Anderson. Cotter, Crust, & Clough, 2012) found that mental toughness, as measured by the Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48 (MTQ48; Clough, Earle, & Sewell, 2002), was significantly associated with performance on the list‐method directed forgetting task. The current study extends this finding to the item‐method directed forgetting task in which the instruction to Remember or Forget is given after each item in the study list. A significant positive association was found between the correct recognition of Remember words and the emotional control subscale of the MTQ48. Neither the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (Sheard, Golby, & van Wersch, 2009) nor the Big Five Inventory (McCrae & Costa, 1987) accounted for significant variance in the recognition of Remember or Forget words. The findings are discussed in terms of the relationship between mental toughness and cognitive control.
Çalışmanın temel amacı; sporcularda zihinsel dayanıklılık ve öz yeterlik düzeyleri arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesidir. Araştırma sonucunda, sporcularda zihinsel dayanıklılık ile öz yeterlik düzeyleri arasında orta düzeyli ve pozitif yönlü bir ilişki olduğu saptanmıştır. / / / The purpose of study is investigating the relationship between athletes’ mental toughness levels and self-efficacy levels. As a result of this research; there detected an moderate positive correlation between mental toughness and self-efficacy levels of athletes.
The purpose of this article is to understand how academics in management deal with the concept of generation in the workplace. We begin by conducting an interdisciplinary literature analysis, thereby elaborating a conceptual framework concerning generational diversity. This framework consists of four levels of analysis (society, career, organisation and occupation) and three dimensions (age, cohort and event/period). We then conduct a meta-analysis using this conceptual framework to analyse papers from the management field. The results from this analysis reveal the existence of a diversity of generational approaches, which focus on the dimensions of age and cohort on a societal level. Four factors seem to explain these results: the recent de-synchronisation of generational dimensions and levels, the novelty of theoretical models, the amplification of stereotypes by mass media and the methodologies employed by researchers. In sum, this article contributes to a more realistic view of generational diversity in the workplace for both academics and practitioners.
Purpose
Mental toughness describes a set of attributes relating to how individuals deal with challenges, stressors, and pressure. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between mental toughness and perceived stress in police and fire officers.
Design/methodology/approach
The participants were 247 police officers and 130 fire fighters. Participants completed questionnaire measures of mental toughness and perceived stress, and provided information about their age, rank, and length of service within the force.
Findings
Mental toughness was found to be significantly related to perceived stress, with control of emotion, control of life, and confidence in abilities being particularly important. There was no consistent relationship of age, rank, or length of service with mental toughness and perceived stress. However, police officers reported lower levels of mental toughness and higher levels of perceived stress than fire officers.
Practical implications
The results suggest that assessing police and fire officers on a measure of mental toughness could provide a means of identifying individuals more likely to suffer from stress and stress-related physical and psychological illness. In addition, interventions that may enhance mental toughness could have beneficial effects within this population.
Originality/value
This is the first study to examine mental toughness and perceived stress within this population, and the findings have important implications for the management of stress.
Bu çalışmanın temel amacı; sporcularda zihinsel dayanıklılık ve öz yeterlik düzeyleri arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesidir. Çalışmaya 71 kadın, 244 erkek; toplam 315 sporcu ( X yaş = 24.93 ± 3.41) gönüllü olarak katılmıştır. Bu araştırmada sosyo-demografik değişkenler ile ilgili bilgiler, araştırmacı tarafından oluşturulan Kişisel Bilgi Formu ile toplanmıştır. Araştırmanın amacına ulaşmak için; Sheard, Golby ve Van Wersch (2009) tarafından geliştirilen, Türkçeye uyarlaması Altıntaş (2015) tarafından yapılan "Sporda Zihinsel Dayanıklılık Envanteri" ile birlikte Riggs, Warka, Babasa, Betancourt ve Hooker (1994) tarafından geliştirilen, Türkçeye uyarlaması Öcel (2002) tarafından yapılan "Öz Yeterlik Ölçeği" kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen verilerin analizinde verilerin dağılımları ve grupların dengeli olup olmamasına bağlı olarak ikili grup karşılaştırmalarında bağımsız gruplar t-testi veya Mann Whitney-U testi, ikiden fazla grupların karşılaştırılmasında ise tek yönlü varyans analizi (Anova) veya Kruskall Wallis H testi kullanılmıştır. Kruskall Wallis H testi sonuçları dikkate alınarak, gerek görüldüğünde Bonferroni düzeltmeli Mann Whitney-U Testi kullanılmıştır. Zihinsel dayanıklılık ve öz yeterlik toplam puanları arasındaki ilişki ise Spearman's Rho katsayısı ile değerlendirilmiştir. İstatistikler SPSS 22 paket programıyla yapılmış ve yapılan tüm değerlendirmelerde istatistiksel anlamlılık düzeyi p<0.05 olarak kabul edilmiştir. Bu araştırmanın sonucunda, sporcularda zihinsel dayanıklılık ile öz yeterlik düzeyleri arasında orta düzeyli ve pozitif yönlü bir ilişki olduğu sonucuna varılmasının yanı sıra spor yaşı değişkeni açısından sporcuların zihinsel dayanıklılık ve öz yeterlik düzeylerinin farklılaştığı saptanmıştır. Aynı zamanda yaş ve eğitim düzeyi değişkeni açısından sporcuların zihinsel dayanıklılık düzeylerinin farklılaştığı gözlenmiştir. / / / The purpose of study is investigating the relationship between athletes' mental toughness levels and self-efficacy levels. 315 athletes (71 women, 244 men) participated in this study voluntarily ( X Age = 24.93 ± 3.41). In this research, information about socio-demographic variables was collected by the Personal Information Chart which was created by the researcher. To achieve the purpase of the study, Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire which was developed by Sheard, Golby and Van Wersch (2009) and adapted to Turkish language by Altıntaş (2015); and Self-Efficacy Scale, which was developed by Riggs, Warka, Babasa, Betancourt and Hooker (1994) and adapted to Turkish language by Öcel (2002) were used. In analysis of the data about the comparison of two groups independent samples t-test and Mann Whitney-U test is used, which is determined by whether distribution of data or the groups are balanced. Comparison of the groups which consists of more than two groups are conducted by One way Analysis of variance (Anova) or Kruskall Wallis H Test. According to the results of Kruskall Wallis H Test, Mann Whitney-U test with the Bonferroni-correction is used, when needed. The relation between total points of both mental toughness and self-efficacy were assessed by the Rho factor of Spearman. Statistics are generated by SPSS Pack 22 and p<0.05 is used as the significancy level. As a result of this research; there detected an moderate positive correlation between mental toughness and self-efficacy levels of athletes. On the other hand mental toughness and self-efficacy levels are differentiated by the sport age. Also, mental toughness levels vary according to age and education level.
Çalışmanın amacı; elit düzeyde bireysel ve takım sporu yapan sporcuların zihinsel dayanıklılık düzeylerini ve aralarında cinsiyet, yaş, eğitim düzeyi, spor yapma sürelerine göre fark olup olmadığını belirlemektir. Araştırmaya bireysel sporlardan (Atletizm, Boks, Karate, Bisiklet) 56'sı erkek (%54,6), 50'si kadın (%45,4) toplam 106 sporcu; takım sporlarından, (Futbol, Basketbol, Voleybol, Hentbol) 57'si erkek (%56,4), 44'ü kadın (%43,6) 101 sporcu gönüllü olarak katılmıştır. Araştırmada Sheard ve diğ. (2009) tarafından geliştirilen, Türkçeye uyarlamasını Altıntaş (2015)'ın yaptığı "Sporda Zihinsel Dayanıklılık Envanteri" ve araştırmacıların hazırladığı kişisel bilgi formu kullanılmıştır. Çalışmada yanıtların iç tutarlılığı Crα ile incelenmiş ve katsayısı .83 olarak bulunmuştur. Verilerin analizi SPSS 21 programı ile yapılmış, betimsel istatistiklerden frekans (f), yüzde (%); T-Testi testi ve ANOVA testleri kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda; bireysel sporcuların, takım sporcularına göre zihinsel dayanıklılık düzeylerinin daha yüksek olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca, cinsiyet, yaş, eğitim düzeyi ve spor yapma süresi, değişkenleri incelendiğinde gruplar içinde istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklılıklar tespit edilmiştir. / / / The Purpose of this study is to examine the level of mental toughness of athletes who play individual and team sports at elite
level and whether they differ according to gender, age, education level and time span of participation in that sport. 56 male (54.6%), 50
female (45.4%), totally 106 athletes from individual sports (Track and field, Boxing, Karate, Bicycle); and from team sports, (football,
basketball, volleyball, handball), 57 male (56.4%) and 44 female (43.6%) participated in this study voluntarily.
In the study, " Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTTQ) ", which was developed by Sheard et al. (2009) and adapted to
Turkish by Altıntaş (2015), and personal information form prepared by researchers were used.
The internal consistency of responses in the study was examined by Crα and the coefficient was found to be .83. Analysis of
the data were made with SPSS 21 program, frequency (f), percentage (%) of descriptive statistics; T-test and ANOVA tests were used.
As a result of the research; individual athletes have higher levels of mental toughness than team athletes. In addition, when the
variables such as gender, age, education level and duration of sport were examined, statistically significant differences were found in
the groups.
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate the efficacy of the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale 10 (CD-RISC 10) (Campbell-Sills and Stein, 2007) for use in public accounting settings.
Design/methodology/approach
The analyses include an examination of possible demographic differences in overall score, the scale’s factor structure, the invariance of its factor structure across gender and age groups, the scale’s reliability and its convergent and divergent validity.
Findings
There are significant gender and age group difference in scores, but a common univariate factor structure for the scale. The authors further find that a two-factor solution provides a superior fit to the data compared to the single factor structure used in the most prior research. Spearman–Brown reliability coefficients, item-total correlations and coefficient alphas each support the reliability of the items loading on the scale for the full sample, as well as for each of the above-referenced demographic subsamples.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations are acknowledged related to the use of self-report measures, absence of test-retest score comparisons and convergent and divergent assessments limited to the heterotrait–homomethod approach.
Practical implications
The CD-RISC 10 is an expedient resilience measure, as it can be completed and scored in just a few minutes. Human resource administrators at public accounting firms can use it as an initial screening measure to identify staff who might benefit from resilience training. The paper adds to the appreciation of what not to do in the face of crisis by the government and those in charge of large accounting organizations.
Social implications
The CD-RISC 10 can be used in research and clinical efforts to reduce voluntary turnover of audit staff and enhance the well-being of auditors in the workplace.
Originality/value
This study provides empirical evidence that the CD-RISC 10 is a valid and reliable measure for future assessments of auditor resilience levels.
Competition refers to a phenomenon that can affect and direct observable human behaviour. Competitiveness can be a triggering factor in achieving success and focusing on the target. The individual competitiveness scale can provide an opportunity to observe and evaluate students participating in various competitions within the scope of exams. This study seeks to examine the individual competitiveness perceptions of the students who take special talent exams according to some demographic variables. This quantitative study was carried out in a descriptive survey model. The sample of the study consists of 218 students who participated in the special talent exams held in September 2021 at Kahramanmaras Sutçu Imam University Faculty of Sports Sciences. Data were analysed using the statistical software program Jamovi 1.6.12. Arithmetic mean and standard deviation values were determined for data analysis while t-Test and One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to determine the differentiation status of participant views in terms of demographic variables, and Post-Hoc tests were used to determine the groups with difference for the significant F value. As a result of the research, it was observed that there were significant relationships between the participants' Individual Competitiveness Scale and the CPT (Core Proficiency Test/Exam) score, age, sports branch and weekly work-out variables according to the "Enjoyment of Competition" sub-scale. According to the ' Competition Avoidance' sub-scale, there were significant relationships in terms of the CPT score, age, and weekly work-out number variables and that there was no significant relationship in terms of sports branch variable. As a result, students' individual competitiveness perceptions were determined in terms of different variables.
Keywords: Individual Competitiveness, Special Talent, Exam, Student
The spread of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on global sport. This is especially true at the elite level, where it has disrupted training and competition. Concomitantly, restrictions have disrupted long-term event planning. Many elite athletes remain unsure when major events will occur and worry about further interruptions. Although some athletes have successfully adapted to the demands of the COVID-19 crisis, many have experienced difficulties adjusting. This has resulted in psychological complications including increased stress, anxiety, and depression. This article critically examines the extent to which non-cognitive skills training, in the form of increased awareness of Mental Toughness, can help elite athletes inoculate against and cope with negative psychological effects arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-cognitive skills encompass intrapersonal (motivations, learning strategies, and self-regulation) and interpersonal (interactions with others) domains not directly affected by intellectual capacity. Previous research indicates that enhancement of these spheres can assist performance and enhance mental well-being. Moreover, it suggests that training in the form of increased awareness of Mental Toughness, can improve the ability to cope with COVID-19 related challenges. In this context, Mental Toughness encompasses a broad set of enabling attributes (i.e., inherent and evolved values, attitudes, emotions, and cognitions). Indeed, academics commonly regard Mental Toughness as a resistance resource that protects against stress. Accordingly, this article advocates the use of the 4/6Cs model of Mental Toughness (i.e., Challenge, Commitment, Control, and Confidence) to counter negative psychological effects arising from COVID-19.
Positive psychology interventions hold great promise as schools around the world look to increase the wellbeing of young people. To reach this aim, a program was developed to generate positive emotions, as well as improve life satisfaction, mental toughness and perceptions of school kindness in 538 expatriate students in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Starting in September 2019, the program included a range of positive psychology interventions such as gratitude, acts of kindness and mental contrasting as examples. Life satisfaction and mental toughness at mid-year were sustained or grew by the end of the year. Positive affect, emotional wellbeing and social wellbeing increased at post-intervention 1, compared to baseline. However, this improvement reverted to baseline levels at post-intervention 2, when data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only psychological wellbeing, negative affect, perceptions of control, and school kindness were increased at post-intervention 2. During the lockdown, students moved less, but slept and scrolled more. Those who extended their sleep duration reported greater wellbeing. Boosting wellbeing through the use of positive psychology interventions works – even in a pandemic – and extended sleep duration appears to be a driving factor for this observation.
Z: Çalışmanın amacı, tenisçilerin spor karakterleri ve özgüven duygularının bazı değişkenlere göre incelenmesidir. Çalışmaya Türkiye Tenis Federasyonuna bağlı tenis kulüplerinde tenis oynayan ortalama 19,60 yaşında 138 (%47.58) kadın ve 152 (%52.42) erkek toplam 290 tenisçi gönüllü olarak katılmıştır. Gönüllü olarak çalışmaya katılan tenisçilere kişisel bilgi formu, "Spor Karakter" ve "Özgüven Ölçeği" uygulanmıştır. İkili grupların karşılaştırılmasında Bağımsız Örneklem T-Test, çoklu karşılaştırmalarda ise tek yönlü ANOVA analizi yapılmıştır. ANOVA testi sonucunda farklılığın hangi gruplar arasında olduğunu tespit edebilmek için Post-Hoc testi yapılmıştır. Spor karakteri toplam puanı ile özgüven duyguları toplam puanı arasındaki ilişkinin ortaya konulabilmesi için Pearson korelasyon analizi kullanılmıştır. Tenisçilerin cinsiyetlerine göre spor karakterleri ve özgüven duyguları toplam puanlarında kadınlar ile erkekler arasında anlamlı bir fark bulunmamıştır. Ancak spor yapma yılına göre 9+ yıl spor yaşı olanlar ile 1-4 yıl arası spor yaşı olanların (p=0.04) ve yine 9+ spor yaşı olanlar ile 5-8 yıl arası spor yaşı olanları (p=0.026) spor karakterleri toplam puanı arasında anlamlı bir fark tespit edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak, tenisçilerde spor karakter ve özgüvenlerinde cinsiyet ve yaş değişkenine göre bir farklılık olmadığı fakat spor yapma yıllına göre spor karakterlerinin fark gösterdiği sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Tenisçilerin spor yapma yıllı arttıkça spor karakter özellikleri olumlu yönde artmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: spor karakter, özgüven, tenis. ABSTRACT: The aim of the study is to examine the sports characters and self-confidence feelings of tennis players according to some variables. A total of 290 tennis players, 138 (47.58%) female and 152 (52.42%) male, aged 19.60 years, playing tennis in tennis clubs affiliated with the Turkish Tennis Federation, participated voluntarily. Personal information form, "Sports Character" and "Self-Confidence Scale" were applied to the tennis players who participated in the study voluntarily. Independent Sample T-Test was used to compare paired groups, and one-way ANOVA analysis was used for multiple comparisons. The Post-Hoc test was used to determine between which groups the difference was as a result of the ANOVA test. Pearson correlation analysis was used to reveal the relationship between the total score of sports characters and the total score of self-confidence. According to the gender of the tennis players, there was no significant difference between males and females in the total scores of sports characters and self-confidence. However, a significant difference was found between the sports character total score between 1-4 years old and 9+ years old, 5-8 years old and 9+ years old. As a result, it was concluded that there was no difference in the sports character and self-confidence of tennis players according to the gender and age variable, but the sports characters showed a difference according to the year of doing sports. As the years of playing sports of tennis players increase, their sports character traits increase positively.
Bu araştırmanın amacı, curling sporcularının mental dayanıklılık düzeylerinin demografik ve spora ilişkin bazı değişkenler açısından istatistiksel olarak incelenmesidir. Araştırma, tekil tarama modelinde nicel bir çalışmadır. Çalışmaya aktif olarak curling sporu yapan 38'ü kadın, 53'ü erkek olmak üzere toplam 91 sporcu dâhil edilmiştir. Veri toplamak amacıyla araştırmacı ve uzman görüşü ile oluşturulan kişisel bilgi formu dışında Sporda Mental Dayanıklılık envanteri (Pehlivan ve Dinç, 2017) kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonrasında, erkek sporcuların bağlılık alt boyutunda mental dayanıklılık düzeylerinin kadın sporcuların düzeylerinden daha yüksek olduğu; ayrıca milli curling sporcularının güven alt boyutunda mental dayanıklılık düzeylerinin milli olmayan curling sporcuların düzeylerine göre daha yüksek olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Sonuç olarak, bu araştırma sonrasında örneklem grubumuzu oluşturan curling sporcularının sahip olunan yeteneklere olan inancı koruma ve rakiplerinin kendisini korkutmasına izin vermeme beceri düzeylerine ilişkin puan ortalamalarının nispeten daha yüksek olduğu görülmüştür. Ancak hedefe bağlı kalma ve kontrolü kaybetmeme beceri düzeylerine ait puan ortalamalarının ise düşük olduğu görülmüştür.
Konsep mengenai hardiness berkembang sejak tahun 1970an dimulai dari penelitian yang intensif dan longitudinal dari Kobasa dan Maddi (dalam Maddi 2006) pada para manajer di perusahaan Illinois Bell Telephone (IBT). Sejak itu konsep hardiness terus berkembang sebagai salah satu konsep yang mendukung perkembangan kesehatan mental manusia. Belum ada penelitian yang menunjukkan hubungan langsung antara religiusitas dan hardiness. Pada masyarakat Indonesia dengan jumlah muslim yang mayoritas, dimana religiusitas menjadi sumber utama nilai maka sehingga bisa jadi nilai-nilai religiusitas dapat menjadi sumber berkembangnya pribadi hardiness. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa religiusitas memberikan kontribusi sebanyak 15,5% terhadap hardiness. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa hardiness dan religiusitas berbagi varians yang sama namun angka persentase yang kecil menunjukkan bisa jadi ada variabel-variabel lain yang memberikan kontribusi.
Bu araştırmanın amacı; spor bilimleri fakültesinde öğrenim gören öğrencilerin egzersiz bağımlılığı ve zihinsel dayanıklılık düzeylerinin çeşitli değişkenler açısından incelenmesidir. Nicel araştırma modeline göre tasarlanan bu araştırmada, ilişkisel tarama yönteminden yararlanılmıştır. Araştırmada 248 katılımcı yer almıştır. Katılımcılara "Kişisel Bilgi Formu", "Egzersiz Bağımlılığı Ölçeği" (EBÖ) ile "Sporda Zihinsel Dayanıklılık Envanteri" (SZDE) uygulanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde t-testi, One Way ANOVA, Post Hoc test istatistikleri testleri ve Pearson Korelasyon testinden yararlanılmıştır. Elde edilen araştırma bulgularına göre, katılımcıların genel egzersiz bağımlılığı düzeylerinin risk grubunda olduğu ve zihinsel dayanıklılık düzeylerinin orta düzeyin üzerinde olduğu saptanmıştır. Araştırmada; "aşırı odaklanma ve duygu değişimi", "bireysel-sosyal ihtiyaçların ertelenmesi ve çatışma", "tolerans gelişimi ve tutku" alt boyutları ile "güven" alt boyutu arasında pozitif yönde yüksek düzeyde; "aşırı odaklanma ve duygu değişimi", "bireysel-sosyal ihtiyaçların ertelenmesi ve çatışma", "tolerans gelişimi ve tutku" alt boyutları ile "devamlılık" alt boyutu arasında negatif yönde orta düzeyde; "aşırı odaklanma ve duygu değişimi", "bireysel-sosyal ihtiyaçların ertelenmesi ve çatışma", "tolerans gelişimi ve tutku" alt boyutları ile "kontrol" alt boyutu arasında negatif yönde orta düzeyde anlamlı farklılık saptanmıştır. Sonuç olarak, katılımcıların egzersiz bağımlılığı ile zihinsel dayanıklılık düzeyleri arasında anlamlı ilişki tespit edilmiştir. Spor bilimleri fakültesi öğrencilerinin egzersiz bağımlılığı ve zihinsel dayanıklılık düzeylerinin yaş, bölüm, aylık gelirlerine göre anlamlı şekilde farklılaşmadığı; erkeklerin kadınlara göre egzersiz için bireysel ihtiyaçlarını ertelediği ve egzersiz yapmak için daha fazla sabırsızlandığı, 1. sınıf katılımcıların 2. sınıflara göre kötü hissettiği zamanlarda kendilerini egzersize vermeleri ile egzersiz bağımlılığı riskinin daha fazla olduğu ve düzenli spor yapan katılımcıların olumsuz olaylarla karşılaştıkları durumlarda spor yapmayanlara göre mental ve fiziksel olarak daha hızlı toparlandıkları görülmüştür. Katılımcıların zihinsel dayanıklılık düzeyinin ise cinsiyet, sınıfa göre farklılaştığı fakat düzenli spor yapma durumuna göre anlamlı farklılık göstermediği sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Anahtar kelimeler: Egzersiz, bağımlılık, egzersiz bağımlılığı, zihinsel dayanıklılık. Abstract This study aims to examine the exercise addiction and mental strength levels of students at the Sports Sciences Faculty, according to various variables. In this study designed according to quantitative research model, relational survey method was used. There were 248 participants in the study. "Personal Information Form", "Exercise Addiction Scale" (EAS) and "Mental Strength in Sport Inventory" (MSSI) were applied to the participants. T-test, One Way ANOVA, Post Hoc test statistics tests and Pearson Correlation test were used for data analysis. According to research findings, it was found that participants' general exercise addiction levels were in the risk group and their mental strength levels were above the middle level. In the research, a high positively significant difference was found between the sub-dimensions of "too much focus and emotion change", "postponement of individual-social needs and conflict", "tolerance development" and "passion", and "trust" sub-dimension; a moderate negatively significant difference was found between the sub-dimensions of "too much focus and emotion change", "postponement of individual-social needs and conflict", "tolerance development" and "passion", "continuity" sub-dimension; a moderate negatively significant difference was found between the sub-dimensions of "too much focus and emotion change", "postponement of individual-social needs and conflict", "tolerance development" and "passion", and "control" sub-dimension. Consequently, a significant relationship was found between exercise addiction and mental strength levels. The level of exercise dependence and mental resilience levels of the students of the sports sciences faculty did not differ significantly according to their age, department and monthly income; According to women, when the first class participants postpone their individual needs for exercise and they cannot wait more to do exercise, the risk of exercise addiction is higher with the 1st class participants giving themselves to exercise when they feel bad compared to 2nd grade and they recovered physically faster. It was concluded that the participants' mental strength level differed according to gender and class, but there was no significant difference in terms of doing regular sports.
The current mental toughness is multidimensional construct that help the individual to show persistent strength and preservation during the high competitive situations. The university life is the most vulnerable and pressured time for the university students. The aim of the current study was to determine the psychometric properties of the Mental Toughness Scale (MTS) in university students. A total of 306 participants (151 men and 155 women) with the age range of 18-25 (M = 20.66; SD = 1.36) were administered the Mental Toughness Scale, the Resilience Scale and the Student Problem Checklist. The results of the Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analysis yielded a three factor solution Sense of Personal Competence, Problem Solving Skills and Social Competence. Further, the MTS was found high internal consistency, reliability, construct and discriminant validity. The results pave the way for application of the Mental Toughness of University students of Pakistan and are discussed in light of cultural implications.
Concerns towards public wellbeing and mental health are increasing considering the COVID-19 pandemic’s global societal and individual impact. The present study builds on the current body of COVID-19 literature by examining the role of mental toughness (MT) in predicting negative affective states (depression, anxiety and stress) during the pandemic. The study also examined the effects of changes in employment on mental health and MT. Participants (N = 723) completed a battery of questionnaires including the Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48-item, The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21 items. Participants reported relatively higher levels of depression, stress and anxiety in comparison to pre-COVID-19 samples from previous research, with respondents who had lost their jobs during the pandemic reporting higher levels of negative affective states. However, mentally tough individuals appeared to report lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Moreover, moderation analyses identified some interaction between MT and employment status when predicting depression, anxiety and stress. Our findings suggest that MT may have some utility in reducing the adverse mental health effects of the pandemic on individuals however, further longitudinal research is needed to support these implications.
Mental Toughness, Self Confidence
This chapter reviews the current literature on mental toughness and emotional intelligence to develop an understanding of how they may be interrelated.
To date, there has been no effort to uncover the extent of the universality of mental toughness (MT) in sport between any European country and the US via the Mental Toughness Index (MTI). The authors attempted to examine the invariance of MT between American and Greek athletes and further validate MTI. The MTI was completed by 99 Greek and 173 US athletes. Invariance testing was conducted using multiple group confirmatory factor analysis with increasingly restrictive models. The model-data fit in both samples was very good (CFI Greek = .995, RMSEA Greek = .046; CFI US = .998, RMSEA US = .032). The scalar invariance model was selected as the best fitting (CFA scalar = .930, RMSEA scalar = .078), but with a slightly different item intercept for one item (Item 4; <.5). The results imply that the meaning of the construct is equal in both cultures. Therefore, their MT scores can be directly compared.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of hardiness to stress and to performance, and to explore its moderating effect on the rela- tionship between stress and performance. Three hundred twenty-six officer cadets in the Israel Defense Forces completed self-report stress questionnaires during four critical course events and hardiness questionnaires at the beginning and end of the course. As hypothesized, hardiness was consistently negatively related to experienced stress. It was also consistently positively related to objectively assessed performance throughout the course and in the subsequent course, and to the first on-the-job performance appraisal a year later. In addition to its main effects, hardiness buffered the cadets from the detri- mental effects of stress on performance. The processes by which hardiness affects performance are discussed.
As active-duty forces continue to shrink in the post-Cold War military, reserve and National Guard units play an increasingly important role in deployments of all types. When mobilized for deployment, reservists may experience a range of major life stressors in addition to the stressors encountered in the area of military operations. Although previous studies show ill effects of stress on some of these personnel, few studies have sought to explain the continued good health and stress resiliency displayed by the majority of veterans. This study examined personality hardiness as a potential protective variable among army reserve personnel mobilized for the Persian Gulf War. Regression results showed hardiness interacted with both combat-related stress and stressful life events to predict psychiatric symptoms on several measures. The pattern of results suggested hardiness protects against the ill effects of stress, particularly under high- and multiple-stress conditions. These results have implications for preventing the ill effects of stress across a variety of occupations that can expose workers to multiple stressors, including job disruption and family separation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Recent research (e.g., S. C. Funk, 1992; S. R. Maddi, 1989) has suggested that hardiness protects wellness and stimulates effective functioning despite stressful circumstances. This study continued evaluation of the effectiveness of a hardiness training program. With 54 managers as participants, the hardiness training condition was compared with a relaxation/meditation condition and a placebo/social support control. The hardiness training condition was more effective than the other 2 conditions in increasing self-reported hardiness, job satisfaction, and social support while decreasing self-reported strain and illness severity. This pattern of results furthers the importance of hardiness training in stress management. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Studied personality as a conditioner of the effects of stressful life events on illness onset. Two groups of middle- and upper-level 40-49 yr old executives had comparably high degrees of stressful life events in the previous 3 yrs, as measured by the Schedule of Recent Events. One group of 86 Ss suffered high stress without falling ill, whereas the other group of 75 Ss reported becoming sick after their encounter with stressful life events. Illness was measured by the Seriousness of Illness Survey (A. R. Wyler et al 1970). Discriminant function analysis, run on half of the Ss in each group and cross-validated on the remaining cases, supported the prediction that high stress/low illness executives show, by comparison with high stress/high illness executives, more hardiness, that is, have a stronger commitment to self, an attitude of vigorousness toward the environment, a sense of meaningfulness, and an internal locus of control. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
Educational institutions have traditionally focused primarily on the importance of IQ with less attention given to other types of intelligence. Yet many reserchers are begining to argue that intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies, or emotional intelligence, may be more important for success in life than IQ. It is important, then, for business schools to consider ways to incorporare emotional intelligence skills into each student's “toolbox” for enhanced career success. This article reviews the developing literature on emotional intelligence and discusses a model for incorporating emotional intelligence into the curriculum through the use of assessment tools and experiential exercises.
The authors conducted an investigation of mental toughness in a sample population of athletes who have achieved ultimate sporting success. Eight Olympic or world champions, 3 coaches, and 4 sport psychologists agreed to participate. Qualitative methods addressed 3 fundamental issues: the definition of mental toughness, the identification of its essential attributes, and the development of a framework, of mental toughness. Results verified the authors' earlier definition of mental toughness and identified 30 attributes that were essential to being mentally tough. These attributes clustered under 4 separate dimensions (attitude/mindset, training, competition, postcompetition) within an overall framework of mental toughness. Practical implications and future avenues of research involving the development of mental toughness and measurement issues are discussed.
The literature on mental toughness is characterized by a general lack of conceptual clarity and consensus as to its definition, as well as a general failure to operationalize the construct in a consistent manner. This study addressed two fundamental issues surrounding mental toughness: how can it be defined? and what are the essential attributes required to be a mentally tough performer? Ten international performers participated in either a focus group or one-toone interviews, from which a definition of mental toughness and the attributes of the ideal mentally tough performer emerged. The resulting definition emphasized both general and specific dimensions, while the 12 attributes covered self-belief, desire/motivation, dealing with pressure and anxiety, focus (performance-related), focus (lifestyle-related), and pain/hardship factors.
Objective
To investigate the relationship between mental toughness, sport injury beliefs, pain, and adherence toward a sport injury rehabilitation program.
Design
A prospective design was employed that evaluated adherence over the entire rehabilitation period.
Participants
70 patients undertaking a sport injury rehabilitation program for a tendonitis related injury.
Main Outcome Measures
Adherence was measured using self report measures of clinic and home based rehabilitation alongside attendance.
Results
No association was found between mental toughness and coping appraisals, although high mentally tough individuals displayed more positive threat appraisals and were better able to cope with pain than their less mentally tough counterparts. Greater attendance at rehabilitation sessions was displayed by more mentally tough individuals; however, more positive behavior during clinic rehabilitation was characterized by low mental toughness.
Conclusions
Despite the 0benefits of being mentally tough, sports medicine providers need to be aware that a high degree of mental toughness may have negative consequences upon rehabilitation behavior and subsequently recovery outcomes.
It was hypothesized that there would be significant differences in mental toughness among athletes of different: (a) achievement level, (b) gender, (c) age, (d) sporting experience, and (e) sport type (team vs. individual and contact vs. non-contact sports). Participants were 677 athletes and consisted of sports performers competing at international (n = 60), national (n = 99), county (n = 198), club/university (n = 289), and beginner (n = 3 1) levels. Results revealed a significant relationship between mental toughness and gender, age, and sporting experience. However, achievement level and the type of sport an athlete participated in was not significantly associated with mental toughness.
This study examined the effects of pressures for change in the public sector and the potential mechanisms by which employee Hardiness impacts feelings of and reaction to stress. Data provided by 325 senior-level employees of different state government agencies were used to test a hypothesized model via covariance structure analysis. Results strongly supported the model, linking pressure for change with feelings of stress, subsequent dissatisfaction, and intentions to withdraw. Psychological Hardiness was found to have a direct negative impact on stress as well as a direct positive impact on satisfaction. The proposed role of coping strategies as a mediator of the hardiness-stress relationship was not supported. The results suggest the effects of Hardiness may serve as a significant counterforce to the effects of pressures for change on employees′ intentions to withdraw from the public sector workforce. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed with regard to areas for future research.
The increasingly business-like environment of professional sport has resulted in greater scrutiny and analysis of players’ performance. The roles of physiological parameters in predicting success in the world of professional and amateur sport are well established. However, to date, evidence is sparse concerning the role of personality traits in predicting such success. The present study examined the potency of measures of personality style and mental skills in predicting success in the criterion sport of professional rugby league. Mental toughness was assessed by questionnaire using the Psychological Performance Inventory. Hardiness was assessed by questionnaire using the Personal Views Survey III-R. Subjects in this study were 115 professional rugby league footballers representing the top three playing levels in the game in Great Britain (International, Super League, and Division One). Findings demonstrated that performers playing at the highest standard (International players) scored significantly higher in all three hardiness subscales (commitment, control and challenge) and in two of the seven mental toughness subscales (negative energy control and attention control). Results are discussed relative to previous findings, in particular, of the efficacy of high levels of hardiness. Practical implications focus on the advocacy of mental toughness and hardiness training to improve sports performance.
The concept of mental toughness is widely used, but empirical evidence is required to fully understand this construct and its related variables. The purpose of this paper was to explore the relationship between: (a) mental toughness and coping, (b) mental toughness and optimism, and (c) coping and optimism. Participants were 677 athletes (male 454; female 223) aged between 15 and 58 years (M age = 22.66 years, SD = 7.20). Mental toughness correlated significantly with 8 of the 10 coping subscales and optimism. In particular, higher levels of mental toughness were associated with more problem or approach coping strategies (mental imagery, effort expenditure, thought control, and logical analysis) but less use of avoidance coping strategies (distancing, mental distraction, and resignation). Eight coping subscales were significantly correlated with optimism and pessimism. In conclusion, the relationships observed in this study emphasize the need for the inclusion of coping and optimism training in mental toughness interventions.
Personality was studied as a conditioner of the effects of stressful life events on illness onset. Two groups of middle and upper level executives had comparably high degrees of stressful life events in the previous 3 years, as measured by the Holmes and Rahe Schedule of Recent Life Events. One group (n = 86) suffered high stress without falling ill, whereas the other (n = 75) reported becoming sick after their encounter with stressful life events. Illness was measured by the Wyler, Masuda, and Holmes Seriousness of Illness Survey. Discriminant function analysis, run on half of the subjects in each group and cross-validated on the remaining cases, supported the prediction that high stress/low illness executives show, by comparison with high stress/high illness executives, more hardiness, that is, have a stronger commitment to self, an attitude of vigorousness toward the environment, a sense of meaningfulness, and an internal locus of control.
High and low hardy male and female undergraduates completed an evaluative threat task that was manipulated to influence appraisals of the task in a manner consistent with hardiness theory. High hardy subjects displayed higher frustration tolerance, appraised the task as less threatening, and responded to the task with more positive and less negative affect than did low hardy subjects. Although all subjects displayed increased heart rate (HR) in response to the experimental task, high hardy men displayed lower HR elevations during the task than did low hardy men. Hardiness did not influence HR responses among women. Manipulations of task appraisal revealed a similar pattern where men in the high hardiness appraisal conditions displayed lower levels of physiological arousal during the task than did men in the low hardiness appraisal conditions. Appraisal manipulations had either no effect or the opposite effect among women.
Superb leaders have very different ways of directing a team, a division, or a company. Some are subdued and analytical; others are charismatic and go with their gut. And different of situations call for different types of leadership. Most mergers need a sensitive negotiator at the helm whereas many turnarounds require a more forceful kind of authority. Psychologist and noted author Daniel Goleman has found, however, that effective leaders are alike in one crucial way: they all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. In fact, Goleman's research at nearly 200 large, global companies revealed that emotional intelligence--especially at the highest levels of a company--is the sine qua non for leadership. Without it, a person can have first-class training, an incisive mind, and an endless supply of good ideas, but he still won't make a great leader. The components of emotional intelligence--self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill--can sound unbusinesslike. But exhibiting emotional intelligence at the workplace does not mean simply controlling your anger or getting along with people. Rather it means understanding your own and other people's emotional makeup well enough to move people in the direction of accomplishing your company's goals. In this article, the author discusses each component of emotional intelligence and shows through examples how to recognize it in potential leaders, how and why it leads to measurable business results, and how it can be learned. It takes time and, most of all, commitment. But the benefits that come from having a well-developed emotional intelligence, both for the individual and the organization, make it worth the effort.
This study examined the relations between demographic characteristics of rugby players and selected aspects of psychological performance in rugby league football. Mental toughness was assessed using Psychological Performance Inventory and Hardiness on the Personal Views Survey III-R. Participants (N=70) were international rugby league footballers representing four teams (Wales, France, Ireland, England) in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. Participants completed the questionnaires in training camp. Welsh-nationality players had a significantly higher mean score on two of the hardiness subscales. Hardiness measures displayed the greatest and most frequently statistically significant differences. The findings concur with previous work indicating superior hardiness is related to improved performance in sports.
This study tested the criterion validity of the inventory, Mental Toughness 48, by assessing the correlation between mental toughness and physical endurance for 41 male undergraduate sports students. A significant correlation of .34 was found between scores for overall mental toughness and the time a relative weight could be held suspended. Results support the criterion-related validity of the Mental Toughness 48.
Developing resilience through coaching -MTQ48
- P J Clough
- D Strycharczyk
Clough, P.J. and Strycharczyk, D. (2008), "Developing resilience through coaching -MTQ48",
in Passmore, J. (Ed.), Psychometrics in Coaching: Using Psychological and Psychometric
Tools for Development, Kogan, London.
Polman is a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist, Professor of Sport and Exercise Science and Director of the Centre of Applied Sport and Exercise Science
- C J Remco
Remco C.J. Polman is a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist, Professor of Sport and
Exercise Science and Director of the Centre of Applied Sport and Exercise Science, University of
Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. Remco Polman is the corresponding author and can be
contacted at: rcjpolman@uclan.ac.uk
Clough is a Chartered psychologist and currently the Head of Psychology at the University of Hull
- J Peter
Peter J. Clough is a Chartered psychologist and currently the Head of Psychology at the
University of Hull, Hull, UK.
Jackson is a Associate Lecturer in Biopsychology at the Department of Psychology
- G James
James G. Jackson is a Associate Lecturer in Biopsychology at the Department of Psychology,
Leeds Trinity & All Saints, Leeds, UK.
Nicholls is a Chartered Psychologist and a Lecturer in Psychology in the Department of Psychology
- R Andrew
Andrew R. Levy is a Chartered Psychologist and a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology
in the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, Leeds University, Leeds, UK.
Adam R. Nicholls is a Chartered Psychologist and a Lecturer in Psychology in the
Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Hull, UK.
Mental
toughness
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