Psychological Predictors of Mental Toughness in Elite Tennis: An Exploratory Study in Learned Resourcefulness and Competitive Trait Anxiety

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which two constructs, learned resourcefulness and competitive trait anxiety, measured by the Self-Control Schedule and Sports Competition Anxiety Test, respectively, predicted mental toughness on the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire among male and female elite tennis players. The participants included two NCAA Division 1 (U.S.) intercollegiate tennis teams comprising eight male (M age = 19.4 yr., SD = 1.2) and eight female (M age = 20.9 yr., SD = 1.4) players and their respective head coaches (N = 2, M age = 28 yr., SD = 5.7). Results of regression analyses indicated that learned resourcefulness was the primary predictor of athlete self-rated mental toughness and that competitive trait anxiety was relatively unrelated to coach and athlete-rated mental toughness. The positive significant relationship between mental toughness and learned resourcefulness suggests that the latter may be an integral component of mental toughness, at least among elite tennis players. Further research is needed to examine related components of mental toughness, including learned resourcefulness, and to determine the effectiveness of interventions that increase mental toughness to optimal levels, particularly as a function of sport type.

Full text

ISSN 0031-5125DOI 10.2466/30.PMS.119c27z0
© Perceptual & Motor Skills 2014
Perceptual & Motor Skills: Exercise & Sport
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREDICTORS OF MENTAL TOUGHNESS
IN ELITE TENNIS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY IN LEARNED
RESOURCEFULNESS AND COMPETITIVE TRAIT ANXIETY
1
RICHARD G . COWDEN , DANA K . FULLER , AND MARK H . ANSHEL
Middle Tennessee State University
Summary .— The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which two
constructs, learned resourcefulness and competitive trait anxiety, measured by the
Self-Control Schedule and Sports Competition Anxiety Test, respectively, predicted
mental toughness on the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire among male and
female elite tennis players. The participants included two NCAA Division 1 (U.S.)
intercollegiate tennis teams comprising eight male ( M age = 19.4 yr., SD = 1.2) and
eight female ( M age = 20.9 yr., SD = 1.4) players and their respective head coaches
( N = 2, M age = 28 yr., SD = 5.7). Results of regression analyses indicated that learned
resourcefulness was the primary predictor of athlete self-rated mental toughness
and that competitive trait anxiety was relatively unrelated to coach and athlete-
rated mental toughness. The positive signifi cant relationship between mental tough-
ness and learned resourcefulness suggests that the latter may be an integral com-
ponent of mental toughness, at least among elite tennis players. Further research
is needed to examine related components of mental toughness, including learned
resourcefulness, and to determine the eff ectiveness of interventions that increase
mental toughness to optimal levels, particularly as a function of sport type.
Sport psychology researchers and practitioners have examined the psy-
chological characteristics of highly skilled athletes that promote excellence
and high achievement in competitive sport. Among the characteristics that
have received increased attention in recent years is mental toughness. Con-
temporary empirical research eff orts have provided a more complete and
informed understanding of mental toughness (cf. Jones, Hanton, & Con-
naughton, 2002 ). Posited characteristics and components comprising men-
tal toughness have also been studied (cf. Fourie & Potgieter, 2001 ; Clough,
Earle, & Sewell, 2002 ; Golby & Sheard, 2004 ; Jones, Hanton, & Connaugh-
ton, 2007 ), including the association between mental toughness and other
distinct and related constructs such as hardiness ( Golby & Sheard, 2004 ;
Sheard, 2009 ). In recent years, mental toughness has been studied within
an established theoretical framework of psychology (e.g., Personal Con-
struct Theory; Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2009a ). In particular, men-
tal toughness has been conceptualized in the general (e.g., Clough, et al .,
2002 ; Middleton, Marsh, Martin, Richards, & Perry, 2004a , 2004b , 2005 ;
Sheard, Golby, & van Wersch, 2009 ) and sport-specifi c psychology litera-
2014, 119, 3, 1-18.
1
Address correspondence to Dr. Dana Fuller, Psychology Department, Middle Tennessee
State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132.
AQ:1

R. G. COWDEN, ET AL.
2
ture, for instance, in Australian Rules football ( Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dim-
mock, 2009b ) and cricket ( Gucciardi & Gordon, 2009 ).
A variety of defi nitions have been proposed in operationalizing men-
tal toughness. Sheard, et al . (2009 ), for instance, defi ned mental toughness
as the capacity to rapidly and effi caciously rebound from adversarial ex-
periences (e.g., sport competition), or a response that is promoted under
various and reasonably stable psychological facets (e.g., optimism). Gu-
cciardi, Hanton, and Mallett (2012 ) suggest that mental toughness is an
“umbrella term” that refl ects the tendency of performers, in sport and non-
sport, to “thrive under pressure situations, to overcome setbacks quickly,
and to maintain a high level of functioning in the face of continuous chal-
lenges” (p. 194). Researchers generally agree on defi ning the mental tough-
ness construct (i.e., a positive response or outcome following some form of
adversity, challenge, or stressor; Jones, et al ., 2002 ; Gucciardi, et al ., 2009a ).
These defi nitions denote mental toughness as relevant in the context of
competitive sport (e.g., Jones, et al ., 2002 ), whereas other defi nitions sug-
gest the application of mental toughness to non-sporting situations (e.g.,
Sheard, et al ., 2009 ). Defi ning mental toughness as a tendency to exhibit
certain characteristics across various situations (e.g., Clough, et al ., 2002 )
promotes the trait-like, stable quality of the construct. In addition, there are
disparities between defi nitions that indicate the relevance of mental tough-
ness exclusively during negative, adversarial, and situational diffi culties
(e.g., Clough, et al ., 2002 ; Jones, et al ., 2002 ), as opposed to applying mental
toughness in more positive and advantageously perceived contexts (e.g.,
Gucciardi, et al ., 2009a ; Sheard, 2010 , 2012 ). Gucciardi, et al . (2009b ) empha-
sized the contribution of sport-specifi c factors to mental toughness, an ele-
ment absent from other defi nitions. Despite progress toward universal def-
initions of mental toughness, additional research for attaining a consensual
description and understanding of mental toughness is needed.
Bull, Shambrook, James, and Brooks' (2005 ) contention of the sport-
specifi city of mental toughness provided the impetus to further explore
this construct in various sports, including cricket (e.g., Gucciardi & Gor-
don, 2009 ), Australian Rules football (e.g., Gucciardi, 2009 ), rugby (e.g.,
Sheard, 2009 ), and soccer (e.g., Coulter, Mallett, & Gucciardi, 2010 ). Previ-
ous investigations of mental toughness have shown diff erent characteris-
tics of sport-specifi c mental toughness, depending on the sport of interest.
Thelwell, Weston, and Greenlees (2005 ), for instance, attempted to confi rm
mental toughness attributes identifi ed by Jones, et al . (2002 ). They report-
ed “having a presence that aff ects opponents” (p. 331) as a primary com-
ponent of mental toughness in soccer, a fi nding that was not evidenced
in Jones, et al .'s (2002 ) general sport study. Gucciardi and Gordon (2009 )
outline cricket smarts as a fundamental component of mental toughness

MENTAL TOUGHNESS IN ELITE TENNIS
3
in cricket, a characteristic self-evidently irrelevant to other sports. Addi-
tionally, mental toughness has been found to vary as a function of sport
type ( Gucciardi, 2009 ). Thus, it appears that properties of mental tough-
ness may diff er based on the kinds of psychological demands associated
within each sport ( Bull, et al ., 2005 ).
With recent attempts to study mental toughness in relation to specif-
ic sports, one sport that has been neglected is competitive tennis. In fact,
though mental toughness is considered a primary component of competi-
tive tennis ( Loehr, 1982 ), scant research attention has been devoted toward
investigating mental toughness in elite competitive tennis for both men
and women. Mental toughness regulates positive beliefs and emotions,
self-confi dence, attentional focus, and assists in avoiding cognitive distrac-
tions ( Jones, et al ., 2002 ; Bull, et al ., 2005 ; Gucciardi, et al ., 2009b ), all of which
are relevant in tennis. Mental toughness is particularly important in tennis
at various stages of competition (e.g., trailing or facing break points, serv-
ing to win the set or match, during closely contested and lengthy matches,
which require sustained determination and concentration). Mental tough-
ness is also needed immediately following a tennis match for preventing or
reducing negative emotions and cognitions to engage in performance eval-
uation and to quickly recover, psychologically and physically, from disap-
pointments experienced during matches and match outcomes.
It is also apparent that the conditions and factors associated with
mental toughness diff er markedly between tennis and others sports. Spe-
cifi cally, tennis is among the few racquet sports in which athletes are ex-
posed to the natural elements as well as competing on a variety of surfaces
(e.g., clay, grass, and carpet), placing them under novel forms of adversi-
ty each time competition occurs. It is also among the minority of sports in
which athletes are restricted in their ability to communicate, interact, and
engage with their coach during competition, which tests and probes an
array of mental attributes (e.g., emotional and cognitive control and self-
belief) throughout competition ( Loehr, 1982 , 1995 ). The largely individual-
istic nature of competitive tennis exposes athletes to rigorous physical and
psychological scrutiny, placing demands on tennis athletes that are absent
from team sports. Considering the uniqueness of tennis competition and
the necessity to understand mental toughness in competitive tennis, fur-
ther investigations to examine the components of mental toughness and
the constructs that relate to mental toughness in tennis are warranted.
Related Constructs
There are similarities between mental toughness and other closely as-
sociated constructs. Hardiness and its components form one conceptual
framework in relation to mental toughness (cf. Clough, et al ., 2002 ). The
mental toughness-hardiness relationship has been supported by subse-

R. G. COWDEN, ET AL.
4
quent research. Sheard (2009 ), for instance, reported a positive correla-
tion ( r = .34) between hardiness and mental toughness. More recently, ex-
ploratory and confi rmatory factor analyses have identifi ed resilience as a
characteristic of mental toughness (e.g., Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock,
2008 ; Gucciardi & Gordon, 2009 ; Coulter, et al ., 2010 ), thereby denoting re-
silience as one part of a larger constituency of attributes that encompass
mental toughness. On the other hand, Pickering, Hammermeister, Ohl-
son, Holliday, and Ulmer (2010 ) measured two psychological attributes
of mental toughness, emotion management and cognitive skills, using
the Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool–3 (OMSAT–3; Durand-Bush &
Salmela, 2001 ). Separate linear regression models indicated emotion man-
agement ( R
2
= .40), and cognitive skills ( R
2
= .47) were useful for predicting
resilience. These mental toughness characteristics promote outcomes of
resilience, acting as personal, protective resources promoting competent
outcomes. The authors did not assess mental toughness using a valid in-
strument; however, their fi ndings raise further questions about the inter-
relation between mental toughness and resilience. Another construct that
has received less attention relative to mental toughness, yet possesses sim-
ilarities to mental toughness, is learned resourcefulness.
Learned resourcefulness is usually defi ned as a collection of acquired
abilities that enable an individual to monitor, control, or manipulate dys-
functional internal reactions to reduce the negative infl uence of these re-
actions on targeted cognitions, emotions, or behaviors ( Rosenbaum, 1983 ,
1990 ). Similar to Loehr's ( 1995 ) perspective of mental toughness, learned
resourcefulness represents a repertoire of learned and acquired skills ( Za-
uszniewski, Chung, Chang, & Krafcik, 2002 ). These skills include the ap-
plication of appropriate problem-solving techniques or coping skills, us-
ing cognitive processes to control emotions and behavioral responses,
and possessing a self-effi cacious outlook on the ability to control or cope
with adversarial situations ( Rosenbaum & Ben-Ari, 1985 ). Certain aspects
of the composition of learned resourcefulness are comparable to mental
toughness. For instance, the ability to control emotions, cognitive pro-
cesses (e.g., attention), and physiological responses, a feature central to
learned resourcefulness ( Akgun & Ciarrochi, 2003 ), has been viewed as
a subdomain of mental toughness (e.g., Clough, et al ., 2002 ) and a feature
that distinguishes mentally tough athletes from their non-mentally tough
counterparts (e.g., Crust, 2009 ; Gucciardi, et al ., 2009b ). Learned resource-
fulness enables the person to use more eff ective coping strategies ( Akgun,
2004 ; Ronen & Rosenbaum, 2010 ) and produces outcomes demonstrative
of eff ective coping when confronted with adversity ( Akgun & Ciarrochi,
2003 ). The proper use of coping skills is also an element of mental tough-
ness (e.g., Fourie & Potgieter, 2001 ).

MENTAL TOUGHNESS IN ELITE TENNIS
5
Mentally tough athletes cope eff ectively with stress (Nicholls, Levy,
Polman, & Crust, 2011 ). In particular, Kaiseler, Polman, and Nicholls (2009 )
found mental toughness was associated with the use of more eff ective
problem-focused coping (e.g., active coping; r = .23, p < .01) as opposed to
avoidance (e.g., denial; r = −.07) or emotion-focused (e.g., seeking emotion-
al social support; r = .06) coping strategies, a fi nding corroborated in at least
one subsequent study (e.g., Nicholls, Polman, Levy, & Backhouse, 2008 ). In
addition, mental toughness was associated with higher coping self-effi ca-
cy ( r = .35, p < .01; Nicholls, et al ., 2011 ), suggesting that mental toughness
may include self-effi cacy as a form of coping with adversity that is akin to
learned resourcefulness.
The comparable characteristics of mental toughness and learned re-
sourcefulness may suggest an interrelatedness between the two constructs.
It is plausible to surmise that learned resourcefulness is a subcomponent of
mental toughness, while mental toughness may possess several character-
istics not refl ected in learned resourcefulness (e.g., motivation; Connaugh-
ton & Hanton, 2009 ). There is growing evidence supporting the similari-
ties between mental toughness and learned resourcefulness (e.g., Drees &
Mack, 2012 ; Bell, Hardy, & Beattie, 2013 ), and the joint use of these charac-
teristics through psycho-behavioral interventions (e.g., Ngai, Chan, & Ip,
2009 ; Ronen & Rosenbaum, 2010 ).
Anxiety
While researchers have typically examined the desirable characteristics
that separate mentally tough athletes from their non-mentally tough peers
(e.g., self-belief), there has been less emphasis toward determining debilita-
tive performance attributes that mentally tough performers are less likely
to possess. Competitive trait anxiety increases the likelihood of athletes to
perceive competitive contexts as threatening and respond with heightened
state anxiety, which, in turn, may be detrimental to athletic performance
( Chen, Hsien, Chang, Wang, & Hung, 2005 ; Horikawa & Yagi, 2012 ).
According to Hardy, Jones, and Gould (1996 ), athletes high in com-
petitive trait anxiety display a tendency to select and focus on threaten-
ing conditions or factors resulting in heightened state anxiety experiences.
Thus, state anxiety experiences result from the inability of athletes high in
competitive trait anxiety to avoid attending to threatening stimuli. Fur-
thermore, the perception of whether athletes consider competitive trait
anxiety as facilitative or debilitative infl uences the manifestation and in-
tensity of state anxiety experiences ( Hanton, Mellalieu, & Hall, 2002 ). Per-
ceiving competitive trait anxiety as facilitative as opposed to debilitative
depends on the presence of attributes such as internal or external locus of
control ( Ntoumanis & Jones, 1998 ), performance goals ( Jones & Hanton,
1996 ), and other psychological factors (cf. Clough, et al ., 2002 ; Crust, 2009 ;

R. G. COWDEN, ET AL.
6
Gucciardi, et al ., 2009b ). Thus, it appears counterintuitive that mentally
tough athletes will possess high competitive trait anxiety. Indeed, Chen, et
al . (2005 ) reported that competitive trait anxiety was not related to mental
toughness among table tennis competitors.
Recently, researchers have asserted that coaches possess the capacity
to foster mental toughness in athletes (e.g., Gucciardi, Gordon, Dimmock,
& Mallett, 2009 ). There have been comparative investigations focused on
the mental toughness perceptions and appraisals of athletes and coach-
es. Cowden, Anshel, and Fuller (2014 ) found diff erences between ath-
letes' and their respective coaches' perceptions of the overall relevance of
a number of mental toughness items to mental toughness in the context of
elite tennis. For instance, athletes considered “not getting angry and frus-
trated when things do not go my way” as amid the items of highest im-
portance to mental toughness in tennis; a characteristic considered of rela-
tively low importance by their coaches. In addition, Coulter, et al . (2010 )
found that soccer coaches and their athletes disagreed on the relevance of
several facets to the characterization of mental toughness (e.g., valuing
opportunity, balanced perspective, risk taker). For these reasons, separate
analyses were conducted in the present study to determine athletes' self-
rated mental toughness and coach ratings of athletes' mental toughness.
Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationships be-
tween selected constructs, specifi cally learned resourcefulness, competitive
trait anxiety, and mental toughness among elite male and female competi-
tive tennis players to ascertain to what extent learned resourcefulness and
competitive trait anxiety predicts mental toughness as a function of select-
ed personal characteristics (i.e., age, sex, team rank) of elite tennis players.
Hypothesis 1 . Learned resourcefulness would be signifi cantly re-
lated to athletes' self-rated mental toughness and coach ratings
of athletes' mental toughness.
Hypothesis 2 . Competitive trait anxiety would be signifi cantly re-
lated to athletes' self-rated mental toughness and coach ratings
of athletes' mental toughness.
Hypothesis 3 . Learned resourcefulness would signifi cantly predict
athletes' self-rated mental toughness and coaches' ratings of
athletes' mental toughness when considering athletes' selected
personal characteristics.
M
ETHOD
Participants
Sixteen elite tennis players (eight women, M age = 20.9 yr., SD = 1.4;
eight men, M age = 19.4 yr., SD = 1.2) competing at a NCAA Division 1

MENTAL TOUGHNESS IN ELITE TENNIS
7
conference at a university located in the southeastern United States and
each team's respective collegiate head coach, one female and one male ( M
age = 28 yr., SD = 5.7), participated in the current study. The female head
coach was affi liated with the female athletes, whereas the male head coach
was affi liated with the male athletes.
The coaches of their respective tennis teams were approached in per-
son to obtain their approval to have the athletes and the coaches them-
selves engage in the study. They were provided a verbal account of the
nature and purpose of the study, and then asked to distribute and retrieve
signed consent forms. Then, permission to conduct the study from the In-
stitutional Review Board was obtained. Prior to data collection, athletes
were provided an opportunity to ask questions about the study. They were
informed that they could discontinue their involvement in the study at any
time without penalty, and that the university had approved the study.
Materials
Mental toughness .— The 14-item Sports Mental Toughness Question-
naire (SMTQ; Sheard, et al ., 2009 ) was used to quantitatively ascertain the
athletes' mental toughness. The Likert-type items were rated on a four-
point scale with anchors 1: Not at all true and 4: Very true. Sample items
on the three subscales include “I have qualities that set me apart from oth-
er competitors” (Confi dence), “I am committed to completing the tasks I
have to do” (Constancy), and “I get angry and frustrated when things do
not go my way” (Control). The three subscales combine to provide a mea-
surement of global mental toughness.
Following principal axis factor analysis, Sheard, et al . (2009 ) evidenced
strong confi rmatory factor analysis support for the hierarchical three-fac-
tor model, with a goodness-of-fi t index (GFI) of 0.95. They reported posi-
tive and statistically signifi cant correlations between Confi dence and Con-
stancy, Confi dence and Control, and Constancy and Control ( r s = .31, .28,
and .31, respectively). The internal consistency on the SMTQ is acceptable
for total mental toughness (α = .81; Crust & Swann, 2011 ) and adequate
for the subscales (Confi dence: α = .79, Constancy: α = .76, Control: α = .72).
Divergent validity ( Sheard, et al ., 2009 ) and discriminative power of the
SMTQ have also been established ( Sheard, et al ., 2009 ; Chen & Cheesman,
2013 ). In this study, Cronbach's α was α = .58 using all of the SMTQ items.
There was a negative item-correlation ( r = −.35) for Item 6 (“I can regain
my composure if I have momentarily lost it”), so it was excluded from
analysis. Cronbach's α for the modifi ed SMTQ was α = .65. The discrep-
ant internal consistency estimates between the present and former studies
may be based on this study's unique focus on a single, individual type of
sport (i.e., tennis).

R. G. COWDEN, ET AL.
8
Learned resourcefulness .— The Self-Control Schedule (SCS; Rosenbaum,
1980 , 1990 ) was used in the present study to assess athlete learned re-
sourcefulness. The SCS is an established measure of the learned resource-
fulness construct ( Rosenbaum, 1980 ; Ngai, Chan, & Holroyd, 2008 ). The
SCS includes 36 Likert-type items anchored by –3: Very uncharacteristic of
me, extremely nondescriptive and +3: Very characteristic of me, extremely
descriptive. Eleven items are reverse-scored, and item ratings are summed
for a total SCS score. Thus, a higher composite score is indicative of great-
er learned resourcefulness. In validation studies involving six separate
undergraduate university student samples, Rosenbaum (1980 ) reported
acceptable test-retest reliability ( r = .86) over a four-week duration in one
sample and adequate internal consistency (α = .78–.84) in the other fi ve
samples. Subsequent studies have yielded excellent test-retest reliability
( r = .91; Ngai, et al ., 2008 ) and internal consistency for the SCS (α = .82 to
.92; Redden, Tucker, & Young, 1983 ; Akgun & Ciarrochi, 2003 ; Ngai, et al .,
2008 ; Menshadi, Bar-Tal, & Barnoy, 2013 ). Substantial support for the con-
struct ( Rosenbaum, 1980 ; Richards, 1985 ; Ngai, et al ., 2008 ) and discrimi-
nant ( Rosenbaum, 1980 ; Redden, et al ., 1983 ) validity of the scale has also
been demonstrated.
Four items assess self-perceived propensity to postpone prompt satis-
faction (e.g., “If I carried pills with me, I would take a tranquilizer when-
ever I felt tense and nervous”), 11 items evaluate the ability to implement
problem-solving techniques (e.g., “When I try to get rid of a bad habit, I
fi rst try to fi nd out all the reasons why I have the habit”), nine items ad-
dress self-effi cacy anticipations (e.g., “By changing my way of thinking,
I am often able to change my feelings about almost anything”), and 12
items assess emotional and physiological sensation control through cog-
nitions (e.g., “When I am feeling depressed, I try to think about pleasant
events”).
Schwarzer and Schwarzer (1996 ) suggest that researchers adapt items
of previously validated inventories to improve the match between inven-
tory items and the construct and context under investigation. Items 1, 10,
11, 14, 16, 22, 30, 32, 33, 34, and 36 from the original SCS were removed
from the present study due to lack of item relevancy in elite tennis (e.g.,
“When I am hungry and have no opportunity to eat, I try to divert my
thoughts from my stomach or try to imagine that I am satisfi ed”). Cron-
bach's α for the items used in the present study was α = .77.
Competitive trait anxiety .— The Sports Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT;
Martens, 1977 ) was used to assess competitive trait anxiety. The instru-
ment includes 15 Likert-type items rated from 1: Hardly ever to 3: Often,
addressing the extent to which participants generally experienced anxiety
during sport competition. Five of the items (1, 4, 7, 10, and 13) are fi ller

MENTAL TOUGHNESS IN ELITE TENNIS
9
items that are omitted from scoring, and Items 6 and 11 are reverse scored.
The 10 scored items were summed to obtain a composite score, with high-
er scores evidencing the propensity for the individual to experience great-
er competitive trait anxiety. Although the SCAT was originally developed
and is used as a unidimensional measure of competitive trait anxiety ( Mar-
tens, 1977 ; Smith, Smoll, Cumming, & Grossbard, 2006 ), the SCAT has
been reported and evidenced as possessing a two-factor structure, mea-
suring a combination of cognitive and somatic competitive trait anxiety
components ( Lewthwaite, 1990 ; Ommundsen & Pedersen, 1999 ; Dunn &
Causgrove Dunn, 2001 ). Construct validity support for the SCAT has been
confi rmed (e.g., Corcoran, 1989 ), and Martens, Vealey, and Burton (1990 )
reported a test-retest reliability of .85 in a group of young adults and indi-
cated strong internal consistency (KR-20 values) for the SCAT (.95 to .97)
across samples of children, adolescents, and adults. High internal consis-
tency for the SCAT has been reported in succeeding studies (e.g., α = .95;
Lavelleé & Flint, 1996 ). Cronbach's α was α = .91 in the present study.
Procedure
The SMTQ, SCAT, and SCS were administered to the female and male
tennis athletes at their respective practice sessions, which took approxi-
mately 15 minutes for each athlete to complete. The coaches were not pres-
ent during the completion of these inventories. The head tennis coaches
for the male and female teams, respectively, were asked to complete the
SMTQ for each tennis athlete currently competing on their team. The ath-
letes and coaches were asked to complete the SMTQ, with players' ratings
of their self-perceived mental toughness and coaches’ rating perceptions
of their athletes' mental toughness; male and female coaches completed
inventories for the male and female athletes on their team, respectively. As
the coaches were required to complete the SMTQ with reference to each
athlete on their team (eight in total), each coach required approximately 45
minutes to complete the questionnaires.
Immediately prior to participation, coaches were asked to provide the
team rank (1–6) for singles playing positions in which the athletes com-
peted for the previous fi ve matches. A ranking of 7 was assigned to ath-
letes for each of the fi ve matches they did not compete in singles. These
rankings were used for calculating average singles playing positions (i.e.,
average team rank) for each athlete. For the remaining inventories (i.e.,
SCAT, SCS), athletes were asked to rate the items in each instrument for
elite competitive tennis.
R
ESULTS
An α of .05 was used for testing each hypothesis. Table 1 presents de-
scriptive statistics. Normality tests were conducted prior to performing

R. G. COWDEN, ET AL.
10
other statistical tests. The Shapiro-Wilks normality test indicated age was
not normally distributed ( p = .04), so the age variable was dichotomized
(0 = age 18–19 yr., 1 = age 20–22 yr.) for the statistical analyses. Pearson cor-
relations among all variables are shown in Table 2 . Higher scores refl ect
more of the characteristic for all variables (i.e., mental toughness, learned
resourcefulness, competitive trait anxiety, age); the exception is average
team rank, in which the lowest number (1) is best. Results are reported
separately for the coaches' perceptions and athletes' self-report of mental
toughness because, as reported in Cowden, et al . (2014 ), coaches' mental
toughness perceptions and the athletes' self-ratings of mental toughness
were not correlated ( Table 2 ).
Mental toughness was not related to learned resourcefulness ( r = .04,
p = .89, 95% CI = −.47, .52) and was not related to competitive trait anxiety
( r = −.03, p = .92, 95% CI = −.52, .48). Multiple linear regression (stepwise
TABLE 1
D ESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
Scale M SD Skewness
a
Kurtosis
b
1. Coach mental toughness 36.94 6.27 −0.78 −0.07
2. Athlete mental toughness 40.19 3.58 0.82 −0.19
3. Age 20.13 1.45 0.05 −1.49
4. Learned resourcefulness 102.19 11.87 −0.32 −0.53
5. Competitive trait anxiety 18.63 5.57 0.61 −0.59
Note .—Higher scores refl ect more of the characteristic for mental tough-
ness (MT), learned resourcefulness (LR), competitive trait anxiety, and
age.
a
Skewness Standard Error = 0.56;
b
Kurtosis Standard Error = 1.09. N
= 16 (8 women, 8 men).
TABLE 2
P EARSON CORRELATIONS AMONG VARIABLES
234567
1. Coach mental toughness .18 −.25 −.03 −.65 † .04 −.03
2. Athlete mental toughness −.10 .13 .06 .79 † −.44
3. Age Group (0 = 18–19, 1 = 20–22) −.38 .01 −.17 .01
4. Sex
a
(0 = F, 1 = M) −.04 −.03 −.02
5. Average Team Rank .18 −.13
6. Learned resourcefulness −.35
7. Competitive trait anxiety
Note .—Higher scores refl ect more of the characteristic for mental toughness
(MT), learned resourcefulness (LR), competitive trait anxiety, and age, but one
is best for average team rank.
a
Point-biserial correlations. N = 16 (8 women, 8
men). * p < .05 (2-tailed). † p < .01 (2-tailed).

MENTAL TOUGHNESS IN ELITE TENNIS
11
forward selection, α to enter = .05, α to exit = .10) was used to determine the
extent to which mental toughness ratings could be predicted from learned
resourcefulness, competitive trait anxiety, age, sex, and the athletes' aver-
age team rank ( Table 3 ). Average team rank was the only signifi cant pre-
dictor of the coaches' mental toughness ratings ( R
2
= .42, r = −.65, p = .007,
95% CI for r = −.86, −.22). This result indicated that superior players had
higher mental toughness ratings.
Self-ratings of mental toughness were positively related to self-ratings
of learned resourcefulness ( r = .79, p < .001, 95% CI = .48, .92) and not relat-
ed to competitive trait anxiety ( r = −.44, p = .09, 95% CI = −.77, .07). While
r = −.44 was not statistically signifi cant, it would be considered a medi-
um to large eff ect based on Cohen's (1992 ) standards for eff ect sizes. The
multiple linear regression (stepwise forward selection, α to enter = .05, α to
exit = .10) results indicated learned resourcefulness was the only signifi -
cant predictor of athletes' self-ratings of mental toughness ( R
2
= .62; Table
3 ) when athletes' personal characteristics were considered.
D ISCUSSION
The purpose of the present study was to examine the extent to which
learned resourcefulness and competitive trait anxiety were related to and
predicted mental toughness among elite male and female competitive ten-
nis players. Relative to athletes' self-reported mental toughness, the hy-
potheses were supported: learned resourcefulness was signifi cantly relat-
ed to and signifi cantly predicted mental toughness ratings. The hypotheses
related to coaches' ratings of their athletes' mental toughness, however,
were not supported. Specifi cally, coach-rated mental toughness was unre-
TABLE 3
L INEAR REGRESSION MODELS (STEPWISE SELECTION) FOR PREDICTING MENTAL TOUGHNESS RATINGS
Predictor
DV = Mental Toughness Rating
Athlete's Self-rating Coaches' Rating
B
β
95% CI for B B
β
95% CI for B
(Constant) 15.95 4.96, 26.95 44.67 38.80, 50.55
Age Group (0 = 18–19,
1 = 20–22)
Sex (0 = F, 1 = M)
Average team rank −2.01 † −0.65 −3.37, −0.65
Learned resourcefulness 0.24 † 0.79 0.13, 0.34
Competitive trait anxiety
R
2
0.62 0.42
F 22.64 † 10.02 †
Note —N = 16. CI = confi dence interval. * p < .05. † p < .01.

R. G. COWDEN, ET AL.
12
lated to athlete-reported learned resourcefulness and learned resourceful-
ness was not a signifi cant predictor of coach-rated mental toughness when
athlete attributes were considered. Coach-rated mental toughness, how-
ever, was signifi cantly predicted by average team rank. In addition, com-
petitive trait anxiety was neither related to coaches' nor athletes' mental
toughness ratings, supporting the contention that competitive trait anxi-
ety is unrelated to mental toughness among elite tennis athletes.
The positive relationship between athlete-rated mental toughness and
learned resourcefulness in this study may be partly explained by related
psychological characteristics of elite tennis players. Elite athletes with high
mental toughness tend to have high perceived impulse control, emotional
control, physiological self-control, self-effi cacy, and problem-solving capa-
bilities ( Clough, et al ., 2002 ; Bull, et al ., 2005 ; Jones, et al ., 2007 ). For instance,
control is an integral part of and a subcomponent of mental toughness (e.g.,
Clough, et al ., 2002 ; Jones, et al ., 2007 ; Sheard, et al ., 2009 ). Kaiseler, et al .
(2009 ) found that mentally tough athletes maintain extensive self-control
when encountering a stressful event, and perceive greater self-control over
most stressors due, in all likelihood, to their superb coping skills ( Hors-
burgh, Schermer, Veselka, & Vernon, 2009 ).
Another plausible explanation of the signifi cant relationship between
athletes' self-ratings of mental toughness and self-control in response to
stress is their presumably high self-effi cacy, a characteristic that has previ-
ously been identifi ed as a subcomponent of mental toughness ( Middleton,
et al ., 2005 ). It is plausible to surmise that mentally tough elite tennis play-
ers perceive themselves as competent in their ability to regularly exhibit
high quality performance, which may assist them in remaining uninfl u-
enced by pressure and stressful situations.
The fi nding that learned resourcefulness did not explain a substantial
portion (38%) of mental toughness suggests that mental toughness is dis-
tinct from learned resourcefulness. That is, mental toughness is comprised
of a number of characteristics unaffi liated with learned resourcefulness, in-
cluding commitment to various facets of the athletic context (e.g., physical
fi tness training), an unrelenting desire for athletic achievement and success,
and self-motivation ( Connaughton & Hanton, 2009 ; Coulter, et al ., 2010 ).
Whether learned resourcefulness is a subcomponent or characteristic of
mental toughness is uncertain and remains an area for future research.
It is feasible to suggest that eff orts towards developing learned re-
sourcefulness may improve facets of an athlete's mental toughness (e.g.,
self-control), which may benefi t athletes participating in an array of sports,
including tennis. Although the results of this study indicated that mental
toughness and learned resourcefulness are related constructs, further re-
search is needed to diff erentiate the components of mental toughness and

MENTAL TOUGHNESS IN ELITE TENNIS
13
learned resourcefulness, and to discern mental toughness from other con-
structs that possess similar characteristics, such as coherence and resil-
ience.
One inherent bias in the current study with respect to the tennis coach-
es' appraisal of mental toughness among their tennis athletes is the coach-
es' possible assumption of higher mental toughness among higher ranked
players, commonly called the halo eff ect ( Thomas, Nelson, & Silverman,
2011 ). Average team rank, an indicator of tennis skill, was a signifi cant pre-
dictor of coach-rated mental toughness. Thus, the coaches' ratings of each
athlete's mental toughness may have been infl uenced by a predetermined
perception of each player's skills and ranking. This conjecture seems plau-
sible for the coaches' mental toughness ratings; however, the tennis ath-
letes' self-reported mental toughness levels were not associated with team
ranking. This result suggests the need to further evaluate the relationship
between mental toughness and levels of sport skill in future research, par-
ticularly in elite competitive tennis.
The fi ndings suggest that competitive trait anxiety is not related to
elite tennis athletes' self-reported mental toughness. However, a moder-
ate to large eff ect size was found between competitive trait anxiety and
mental toughness, indicating that there may be a moderately strong nega-
tive relationship between the two constructs. Whether the association be-
tween competitive trait anxiety and mental toughness in elite tennis is sta-
tistically meaningful remains an area for future study. The present results,
however, support Chen, et al .'s (2005 ) fi ndings indicating no relationship
between competitive trait anxiety and mental toughness.
Limitations and Conclusion
There were selected limitations in the present study. For instance, the
present results may be infl uenced, in part, by the low sample size and sub-
sequently truncated statistical power. Another limitation is that results of
the current study can be generalized only to competitive tennis. Results of
previous studies have suggested that characteristics of mental toughness
diff er as a function of sport type (e.g., Bull, et al ., 2005 ; Crust, 2008 ), al-
though additional research is needed examining various moderator vari-
ables of mental toughness (e.g., competitive standard; Golby & Sheard,
2004 ).
A third possible limitation of this study concerns the manner in which
the constructs included in the study were measured. Although formal in-
ventory validation procedures were not implemented in the present study,
participants responded to SMTQ items with reference to competitive ten-
nis. In addition, prior to data analysis, internal consistency was computed
and a single item that detracted from the internal consistency of total men-
tal toughness was removed. Although the SMTQ has strong psychometric

R. G. COWDEN, ET AL.
14
support ( Sheard, et al ., 2009 ; Sheard, 2010 ; Chen & Cheesman, 2013 ), per-
haps further psychometric validation of the inventory is required to ver-
ify the appropriateness of the instrument for assessing mental toughness
in the particular sporting group under investigation, in this case competi-
tive tennis. As Carlstedt (2013 ) contends, to establish construct validity
in sport psychology research a test should measure an actual underlying
psychological, behavior, or mind-body process (construct), and often that
requires generating and applying sport-specifi c measures, a recommenda-
tion that may be applied to the current study.
Along these lines, the SCS was not developed and validated for sport,
as refl ected by the non-sport items in this inventory. Items that were ad-
judicated as irrelevant in the context of sport, however (specifi cally, elite
tennis), were removed to improve the appropriateness of the instrument
for use with tennis athletes. Also, the selection and use of the SCAT to as-
sess competitive trait anxiety did not include assessment of threat dimen-
sions or competitive trait anxiety interpretations; limited cognitive anxi-
ety index information was provided ( Dunn & Causgrove Dunn, 2001 ).
Future research is needed to investigate sport-specifi c diff erences in
mental toughness as a function of skill level, particularly in tennis where
mental toughness is a requisite for success ( Loehr, 1982 ). In addition, fur-
ther research is also needed that distinguishes mental toughness from oth-
er, perhaps similar, constructs that appear closely associated with mental
toughness, such as learned resourcefulness and resilience. Finally, the re-
lationships between competitive trait anxiety, competitive state anxiety,
and mental toughness in sport, and in elite tennis in particular, forms an-
other area of future investigation.
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Accepted October 7 , 2014 .

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