A review and conceptual re-examination of mental toughness: Implications for future researchers

By Lee Crust. 2008

228 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This paper provides a review of mental toughness research and examines the major conceptual concerns that are evident in current mental toughness literature. Despite more rigorous scientific approaches to the study of mental toughness, a number of limitations are apparent: these include the assumption that elite or super elite performers are mentally tough (failure to provide objective measures), focusing research solely on elite or super elite performers, appearing to conceptualise mental toughness in absolute rather than relative terms, and ignoring contextual differences. Comparisons are made with research developments in the related concept of hardiness. It is argued that more innovative approaches to research are required to further develop knowledge. This should include more experimental studies, longitudinal research, psychophysiological approaches, and testing the influence of mental toughness in contexts outside sport performance. Further efforts to understand how mental toughness develops are encouraged. With recent advances in instruments to measure mental toughness, further quantitative research is deemed appropriate. The efficacy of proposed methods of enhancing mental toughness such as environmental manipulations, and mental skills training approaches need to be evaluated if the gap between theoretical research and practice is to be bridged.

Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/9f0ad2953c402b0b45a38bfdbd21c1178a6d4dea

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In Developmental and Educational Psychology

1. K. Azadi
2. Lee Crust
3. Peter J. Clough
4. R. Cowden
5. A. Nicholls
6. Andrew R. Levy
7. Remco Polman
8. P. McCarthy

In Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

1. R. Cowden
2. A. Nicholls
3. P. McCarthy
4. Peter J. Clough
5. K. Azadi
6. Andrew R. Levy
7. Remco Polman
8. S. Backhouse

In Social Psychology

1. R. Cowden
2. K. Azadi
3. Peter J. Clough
4. A. Nicholls
5. P. McCarthy
6. Joanne Butt
7. Guo Chen Liew
8. Garry Kuan

Citations in the corpus

• Mental toughness in sport (2019, background): “Clough et al. (2002) may be criticized of finding a theory (i.e. hardiness) and fitting mental toughness into it without sufficient justificationor rationale (Crust, 2007, 2008), and the definition of Jones et al. (2002) could also be seen as limited.”
• Mental toughness and athletes' use of psychological strategies (2010, background): “…2008), others have cautioned against over-emphasizing the importance of psychological constructs when success in sports is most likely down to deliberate practice (Ericsson, 1996) and athletes possessing the appropriate blend of physiological, anatomical, and psychological attributes (Crust, 2008).”
• Coaches' views of mental toughness and how it is built (2011, background): “These unique findings reiterate the importance of considering the suggestion that mental toughness requirements might differ by sport (Crust, 2008).”
• Developing Mental Toughness: From Research to Practice (2011, background): “, Thelwell, Weston, & Greenlees, 2005) although others have suggested it emphasizes what mental toughness allows athletes to do, rather than what mental toughness actually is (Crust, 2008; Gucciardi et al., 2008).”
• Mental toughness in sport: Achievement level, gender, age, experience, and sport type differences (2009, background): “A study by Golby and Sheard (2004) examined MT among a sample of 115 male rugby league players of international, Super League, and Division 1 standard. Small differences in negative energy and attention control were found. However, comparing athletes with greater variability in achievement level may”
• Positive emotion in sport performance: current status and future directions (2011, background): “These attributes, characteristics and behaviours are also related to the multitudinous mental toughness qualities (e.g., Connaughton, Hanton, Jones, & Wadey, 2008; Crust, 2008; Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2009) and so deserve greater recognition as this field of research develops.”
• Mental toughness in education: exploring relationships with attainment, attendance, behaviour and peer relationships (2015, unknown): “How- ever, there are numerous competitive and pressured environments that exist outside of sport (e.g. Crust, 2008; Gerber et al., 2013).”
• Mental Toughness and Success in Sport: A Review and Prospect (2017, background): “A common critique of such studies is that athletes should not be presumed to be knowledgeable or archetypical of what embodies MT on the basis of the experiences they recollect or their past sporting achievements [25].”