Mental Toughness - The Prerequisite To Elite Performance.
What is mental toughness? How do elite performs perceive mental toughness? What are the essential attributes of being mentally tough? These are the questions which Jones et al. (2010) sought answers to in their study “What Is This Thing Called Mental Toughness? An Investigation of Elite Sport Performers.”
Mental toughness is one of the most widely used phrases in applied sport psychology. However, despite its popularity there was an apparent lack of solid definition and operationalization of the term. This study interviewed 10 elite international performers to flesh out the definition of mental toughness and identify the attributes of mental toughness in competitors.
The definition of mental toughness posited by the authors was as follows, “having the natural or developed psychological edge to: generally, cope better than your opponents with the many demands (competition, training, lifestyle) that sport places on a performer; specifically, be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident, and in control under pressure” (Jones et. al., 2010). There is an underlying theme which I want to emphasize from this definition. Mental toughness is a psychological edge which enables you to cope and be consistent under pressure. Mental toughness itself doesn’t equate to more confidence and improved ability to deal with the challenge of sport, but rather provides the foundation through which to build these skills. In other words, mental toughness is the idea that an athlete can bolster their self-regulatory skills and deal with the challenges of sport while staying calm and confident in stressful situations. In this sense, mental toughness is something which can be improved with targeted effort.
There were multiple attributes of mental toughness from which the authors created six general categories: “Self-belief, desire and motivation, performance-related focus, lifestyle-related focus, dealing with external competition-related pressure and anxiety, and dealing with physical and emotional pain.” (Jones et. al., 2010). Self-belief involved the belief in one’s goal achievement ability and belief in one’s uniqueness and superiority over competitors. Motivation emerged in the form of desire and determination. For example, using injuries or other setbacks as a source of determination to “bounce back.” In terms of stress and pressure, mentally tough competitors use the pressure of competition to their benefit while being able to cope with the anxiety of high stakes environments. Having the ability to maintain focus throughout things like opponents’ distractions, unexpected events, and unavoidable distractions was also an important aspect of mental toughness. Finally, maintaining effort and execution despite physical or emotional inhibitors was critical to the idea of mental toughness.
TLDR - What does this mean for you? Mental toughness is a core aspect of elite performance. Properly defining the term and having an idea of what it means is a prerequisite for improving your performance. This study demonstrates that mental toughness is a psychological edge which enables an athlete to cope better than your opponents while also being more consistent under pressure. Through recognizing the attributes of mental toughness, you can work to hone this psychological edge and see improvements in performance.
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Jones, G., Hanton, S., & Connaughton, D. (2002). What Is This Thing Called Mental Toughness? An Investigation of Elite Sport Performers. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14(3), 205–218. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200290103509