Master's Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject Health - Sport - Sport
Psychology, grade: First Class, University of Sunderland, language:
English, abstract: There has been little research into the psychological
factors affecting footballers at different levels (Hanin et al, 2000),
in particular, the mental toughness and hardiness of footballers. The
aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between
mental toughness and hardiness of footballers and the level of football
at which they perform. Participants - 61 footballers (mean AGE=25.23
years; range 18-40 years; SD=5.55), from various clubs and 2 levels of
performance. Mental toughness was measured using the Psychological
Performance Inventory (PPI; Loehr, 1986). Hardiness was measured using
the Personal views survey III- R (Maddi and Khoshaba 2001). Elite
footballers scored significantly higher than recreational footballers in
overall mental toughness, hardiness and each individual subscale, (Golby
& Sheard, 2004). While the present study confirms that elite footballers
have superior levels of mental toughness and hardiness than recreational
footballers, future research might concentrate further on psychological
skills training, coping strategies and psychological preparation
strategies in a wider variation of sports specific to a wider range of
athletes, from grass roots to international level.
