Mental Toughness in Athlete Students: The Predictive Role of Psychological Skills and The Investigation of the Relationship Between Them According to Some Variables

Year 2022, Volume: 41 Issue: 2, 639 - 658, 30.12.2022

Ömer Faruk Yazıcı , Barış Mergan , Mehmet Kargün

Abstract

Scientific realities show that mental toughness and psychological skills are very important for athletes to be psychologically well not only before the competition but also during and after the competition. Being able to continue the sports life at the same time while carrying out educational activities requires more mental toughness and psychological skills than usual. From this point of view, the research aims to determine the role of psychological skills in sports in the mental resilience of athletes who actively do sports and to analyse their relations with each other and with some variables. The study group of the research consists of 420 student-athletes (Avgage=21.96±3.20), 130 of them are females (31.0%) and 290 of them are males (69.0%), studying in the faculties of sports sciences. In the current study, “the Athletes' Psychological Skills Assessment Scale” and “The Mental Toughness Scale” was used. Descriptive statistics, T-Test, ANOVA and Multiple Linear Regression analysis were used for data analysis. In the research findings, it was detected that male athletes have a better ability to perform well under pressure and income status has an effect on getting rid of worries, goal setting and mental preparation. The mental toughness and psychological skills of those who slept 8 hours or less a day were higher than those who slept 8 hours or more. Similarly, it was concluded that athletes who have reading habits have higher mental toughness and psychological skills. Additionally, one of the important results of the research is also that improving concentration, being open to learning, the ability to cope with difficulties, confidence and success motivation, targeting and mental preparation skills, which are among the psychological skills of athletes, explain 44% of the total variance in mental toughness. It can be said that psychological skills have an important role in determining mental toughness.

Keywords

Mental toughness, psychological skills, Student, Athlete

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