Understanding mental toughness in Australian soccer: Perceptions of players, parents, and coaches

Abstract

We explored mental toughness in soccer using a triangulation of data capture involving players (n = 6), coaches (n = 4), and parents (n = 5). Semi-structured interviews, based on a personal construct psychology (Kelly, 1955/1991) framework, were conducted to elicit participants' perspectives on the key characteristics and their contrasts, situations demanding mental toughness, and the behaviours displayed and cognitions employed by mentally tough soccer players. The results from the research provided further evidence that mental toughness is conceptually distinct from other psychological constructs such as hardiness. The findings also supported Gucciardi, Gordon, and Dimmock's (2009) process model of mental toughness. A winning mentality and desire was identified as a key attribute of mentally tough soccer players in addition to other previously reported qualities such as self-belief, physical toughness, work ethic/motivation, and resilience. Key cognitions reported by mentally tough soccer players enabled them to remain focused and competitive during training and matches and highlighted the adoption of several forms of self-talk in dealing with challenging situations. Minor revisions to Gucciardi and colleagues' definition of mental toughness are proposed.

Mental Toughness and Success in Sport: A Review and Prospect

“…Accordingly, the results from the review suggest athletes who report or are rated higher in MT generally participate at higher levels of competition, achieve more, and produce better performances. Collectively, these findings support the commonly held belief that mentally tougher athletes tend to be more successful [2,39,45].…”

“…For example, Cowden [4] found that MT predicted one out of six performance indices during critical moments in tennis competition. Identifying the most important competitive situations that warrant MT is likely more challenging in selected sports (e.g., long distance running), but if MT represents the psychological attribute that differentiates the 'good' from the 'great' [45] then scholarly attention should be directed towards identifying sportspecific mental toughness moments and evaluating the performance of athletes during these moments. This includes determining the type/s of MT that specific situations require, but the findings in this review indicate that only two studies have evaluated overall competitive performance in relation to MT subcomponents [43,44].…”

Lay perceptions of mental toughness: Understanding conceptual similarities and differences between lay and sporting contexts

“…These social attributes included social openness and seeking out help from others (e.g., "the ability to talk through an issue out loud"), as well as resisting unfavourable social pressures (e.g., "not getting influenced by people around you") and asserting one's opinions or needs when necessary (e.g., "being able to stand up for something despite your own hardships"). Positive virtues oriented towards others, such as empathy, compassion and kindness, were also included, which builds on the attribute of personal values (e.g., honesty and integrity) identified by Gucciardi et al (2008) and Coulter et al (2010).…”

“…Coulter, Mallett, & Gucciardi (2010) Semi-structured interviews with soccer players (n = 6), coaches (n = 4) and parents (n =5). Attribute importance identified by the number of participants that cited a particular theme.…”

The Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ): A psychometric evaluation of the Turkish version

“…Mental toughness is the presence of some or the entire collection of experientially developed and inherent values, attitudes, emotions, cognitions, and behaviors that infl uence the way in which an individual approaches, responds to, and appraises both negatively and positively construed pressures, challenges, and adversities to consistently achieve his or her goals (Coulter, Mallett & Gucciardi, 2010).…”