Journal Administrative Management, Education and Training (JAMET) Citation:

Transcription

1 Journal of Administrative Management, Education and Training (JAMET) ISSN: Volume (13), Issue (3), 2017, Available online at Citation: N.Ebrahimi, Determination of the Relationship between Mental Toughness and Confidence Sources in Elite Female Volleyball Players, Journal of Administrative Management, Education and Training, Volume (13), Issue (3), 2017, pp

2 Determination of the Relationship between Mental Toughness and Confidence Sources in Elite Female Volleyball Players N.Ebrahimi ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between mental toughness and confidence sources of elite female volleyball players. The study population consisted of 112 people, consisting of all elite female volleyball players in 7 teams present in Women's Volleyball Premier League in Iran (Season 95). Information of mental toughness of players of these teams was collected and evaluated using sports mental toughness questionnaire (SMTQ) of Sheard and Golbi (2009). Also, in order to collect information related to self-confidence sources, the sports self-confidence questionnaire of Vealey et. al. (1998), was used. For data analysis, statistical methods were used in two descriptive and inferential levels and statistical tests and statistical tests commensurate with the scale data. Normal distribution of data was investigated using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test. Given that the significance level of indicators, except for the ambient comfort and social support, was less than 0.05, so the data distribution was not normal hence, The Spearman test, and for comfort and social support scale, the Pearson test were used to determine correlation by the software SPSS 22 (α = 0.05). Results showed that there is a significant relationship between mental toughness and confidence sources in elite female volleyball players. There were significant relationships between mental toughness and the subscales of physical/mental fitness, physical self-cognitive subscale and subscale of mimetic. This is a direct relationship, i.e. with an increase in each of these subscales, mental toughness also increased. There was an inverse relationship between mental toughness and social support and comfort. Namely, the lower comfort and social support, the amount of mental toughness will increase. Based on the results obtained, there was no significant relationship between the mental toughness and subscales of coach leadership and ability demonstration. Keywords: mental toughness, self-confidence sources, elite female volleyball players Introduction Psychological level of athletes is of issues which has been considered by experts in sports sciences in recent decades to a degree that a branch under the name of sport psychology has been established, which generally investigates human behavior in physical and sport activities (Gill, 2002). One of the important aspects and perhaps the most important aspect of sports science, is the psychology issue. Sports psychology scope has tried to understand and predict performance supremacy on the basis of personality and psychological factors (Miller, 2002). In various definitions presented for sport psychology, generally two areas of mental health and athletic performance improvement are considered. Mental health is related to the effects of the body on the mind, while athletic performance improvement refers to personal and psychological factors affecting performance (Vaez Mousavi, 2001). One of the most important psychological factors 47

3 Journal of Administrative Management, Education and Training (JAMET) involved in sports, is mental toughness, on which sport psychologists, educators, sports commentators and athletes all have emphasized its importance in athletic performance as one of the effective psychological factors (Goldberg, 1998; Jones et al., 2002; Bull et al., 2005; Gucciardi 2008). Despite broad agreement on the importance of mental toughness in development of athletes, there is no comprehensive functional definition on which all researchers and educators have consensus (Middleton, 2004). Jones et al (2002), aimed at defining mental toughness and determining the key features required of a mentally tough and durable athlete, carried out a qualitative study on elite athletes and offered the following definition of mental toughness based on analysis and interviews with elite individuals to: "Having inherited or developed psychological advantages and benefits that enables the individual to: 1) Have better publicly confrontation and deal than their opponent, with many of the requirements that sport applies on performance (match, exercise, and lifestyle). 2) As particular, have better stability than their opponent in the determination, the focus and selfconfidence as well as controlling high pressure conditions". Another important psychological issues which has been much of attention in recent decades, has been the topic of self-confidence and its sources on athletes. Self-confidence is defined as belief in the ability of the person to perform the concerned tasks. Self-confidence is known as the most important indicator of self-perception in sports psychology and is considered as of basic mental skills base. Athletes, coaches and sports psychologists believe that self-confidence is of essential psychological needs guaranteeing sporting success (Vealey et al., 2008). Elite athletes at the international level have identified self-confidence as the most important mental skill in explaining the Subjective sustainability and their success (Bull et al., 2005). Vealey et al (1998) in their study, have proposed their operational definition of self-confidence by combining predictive factors with Bandura's theory of efficacy expectations and theoretical sport-confidence model, and named it Sources of Sport-confidence. They believed that athletes exploit different sources to use self-confidence to produce behavior and cope with competition circumstances and achieve their individual goals for their performance, some of which are the individual sources, such as displaying capability, preparation and control, while others are environmental, such as social sponsors, leadership style and environmental comfort. Sport-confidence sources are of factors which play an important role in the formation of self-confidence in sports, and are known as the most critical factor in developing and maintaining confidence levels of athletes. These sources identified by Vealey et al., include 7 cases of: physical/mental preparation, physical selfpresentation, coach leadership, demonstration of ability, social support, vicarious experience and environmental comfort (Vealey et al., 1998). In the first activities in connection with mental toughness, Loehr (1982) argued that more coaches, sport psychologists and elite athletes believe that 50% of the outstanding and successful sports performance results from psychological or mental factors which is caused by the mental toughness. Also, 83% of coaches consider mental toughness as the most important psychological feature determining the athletic success (Gucciardi, 2009). In order to define and evaluate the characteristics of mental toughness Thelwell et al (2005), conducted interviews with 43 players; based on the results of this study, the overall self-esteem and confidence among the footballers was recognized as the most important 48

4 feature of mental toughness. Gucciardi et al (2009), studied the effect of psychological skills training program on mental toughness of Australian footballers. Results showed that the two experimental groups which received psycho-educational program, showed significant improvement in mental toughness compared with the control group. Martin Jones & John Parker (2013), in a study examined the relationship between mental toughness and the youth experiences. The results showed that experiences of the youth period have the most connection with mental toughness. Besharat et al. (2009), investigated the relationship of resistance and hardworking with success and mental health of the athletes tested. The results of this study show that resistance and hardworking structures can predict the changes related to the success of the exercise and mental health of the athletes. Also, Zahid Babolan et al (2011), conducted a study aimed to investigate the relationship of psychological toughness and forgiveness with hope in the athletes. Results showed that between the two variables of forgiveness and mental toughness, mental toughness personality structure can predict changes of hope in athletes. Edwards (1999) showed that coach's leadership behavior and social support in building self-confidence of individual sport athletes is more important than ordination of a team of athletes. Vealey et al (2004) found that leadership behavior of coaching, skills and social protection for young athletes are considered important sources for confidence compared with adult athletes. Vealey et al (1998) noted that a small number of official trainers are among elite athletes. Therefore, it is possible for elite athletes to have less reliance on leadership behavior coach than high school or college athletes. In addition, the skilled athletes purposes may be different from high school and college athletes. Hoffman (2000) observed a significant negative correlation between the leadership behavior of coach and athlete's confidence in state and trait of both male and female high school basketball players. Wilson et al. (2004) showed that the leadership behavior of coach is the least important confident source of adult skilled athletes. Benjamin & Skinner (2013) examined the role of self-confidence or self-efficacy of coach on the performance of 48 female athletes in the fields of volleyball and football. They showed that the performance of female volleyball players was significantly associated with both factors of confidence, but no significant results were observed in American football team. The results also showed that generally, there is a significant and strong relationship between team self-confidence and self-efficacy of the coach. So we can conclude that the team's confidence and confidence on coach or self-efficacy of the coach are effective in the team's success. Gorbanalizade (2009), in a study entitled the Relationship between Sport Self-confidence and Success in Powerlifting Championships concluded that elite athletes having confidence levels higher than those of non-elite athletes, have achieved more success in competitions. In a study by SH. Khosravinezhad (2013), entitled Assessment of the Relationship between two Personality and Self-confidence Characteristics and their Influence on Athletic Performance of Female Student Athletes in Individual and Team Fields, it was concluded that there is a significant relationship between personality characteristics and self-confident of team sport relative to the individual ones. Hamida Iranmanesh (2014), in a study entitled Relationship between Sport Self-confidence and Motivation for Ping-Pong Athletes on the Basis of Selfdetermination Theory, concluded that the beliefs of athletes will affect the intent of the activity and cause variation in motivation. A. S. Hosseini et al. (2014) in an article entitled "Comparison of Sport Self-confidence and Priority of Activities in Female Professional and Novice Volleyball Players" came to the conclusion that there is a clear difference in confidence between 49

5 Journal of Administrative Management, Education and Training (JAMET) professional and novice volleyball players. This means that professional athletes have confidence higher than novice athletes, and this is due to their high level of skill. Access to different experiences and participation in multiple competitions can be considered as factors improving the skills. Methodology Statistical population and sample Based on nature, this study is survey descriptive and correlational, and in research division in terms of the objective, is of applied research type. The population of this study consisted of all 112 elite female volleyball players present at Tehran Volleyball League season 95, which the entire community was chosen as a sample. Data collection tools The Sheard and Golbi sport mental toughness questionnaire (SMTQ) was used to collect data. This questionnaire is only specific tool to measure mental toughness in sports, which 3 factors of reliability, sustainability and control are as key factors in assessing the mental toughness (Sheard et al., 2009). The questionnaire has 14 questions. In the study of Sheard and Golbi, Cronbach's alpha coefficient of subscales of reliability, sustainability and control were reported as 0.80, 0.74, and 0.71, respectively, showing the reliability of the questionnaire. These researchers also confirmed the validity of the questionnaire through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (Sheard et al., 2009). Validity and reliability of the Persian version of the questionnaire was validated by Kashani et al. (2011). The questionnaire of sport-confidence sources of Vealey et al. (1998), was used to collect information related to self-confidence sources. The questionnaire of sport-confidence sources has been designed by Vealey et al. (1998) and consists of 35 questions with seven-point Likert scale. This questionnaire involves 7 subscales (Demonstration of ability, Physical/mental preparation, self-perception, Others supports, Coaches leadership behavior, mimetic experiences, and environmental comfort). Average of these 7 subscales shows a person's overall self-confidence. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire has been confirmed by Shafi'zadeh and Bahram (2009). Results Descriptive findings In this part, factors of the frequency distribution of the population such as age, blood group and exercise record are given in graph form. 50

6 Age of players Figure 1. Frequency distribution of players in terms of age Blood type Exercise record Figure 2. Frequency distribution of players in terms of blood Figure 3. Frequency distribution of players in terms of sports activity experience Inferential findings To evaluate the normality of the data, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test was used. This test is used to verify the claims made about the distribution of data of a variable. If the error rate of this test is more than 0.05, the null hypothesis is not rejected, and the data are normally distributed, the results of this test for the questionnaire are given in the following table: 51

7 Journal of Administrative Management, Education and Training (JAMET) Table 1. Results of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test Level of significance ks Coefficient Index measures Mental toughness Physical and mental preparation Physical self-perception Coach leadership Demonstration of ability Social support Imitative experiences Environmental Comfort Self-confidence sources Given that the significance level of indicators, apart from coaching leadership and environmental comfort, is less than 0.05, therefore, we conclude that the data distribution is not normal, so we need to use Pearson test for environmental comfort and coach leadership scales, and Spearman test for other components, to determine the correlation. Table 2. Spearman correlation coefficient test between mental toughness and confidence sources Mental toughness and self-confidence sources According to Table 2, the r obtained between mental toughness and confidence sources, is equal to at significance level, because sig is less than This means that there is a significant relationship between the two variables and therefore, the above hypothesis is confirmed. Table 3. Spearman correlation coefficient test between mental toughness and metal/physical preparation mental toughness and metal/physical preparation According to Table 3, the r obtained between mental toughness and metal/physical preparation, is equal to at 0.04 significance level, because sig is less than This means that there is a significant relationship between the two variables and therefore, the above hypothesis is confirmed. Table 4. Spearman's correlation coefficient test between mental toughness and physical selfperception mental toughness and physical self-perception According to Table 4, the r obtained between mental toughness and physical self-perception, is equal to at 0.04 significance level, because sig is less than This means that there is a significant relationship between the two variables and therefore, the above hypothesis is confirmed. 52

8 Table 5. Pearson correlation coefficient test between mental toughness and coach leadership mental toughness and coach leadership According to Table 5, the r obtained between mental toughness and coach leadership, is equal to which is not significant at level, because sig is more than This means that there is no significant relationship between the two variables and therefore, the above hypothesis is rejected. Table 6. Spearman correlation coefficient test between mental toughness and demonstration of ability mental toughness and demonstration of ability According to Table 6, the r obtained between mental toughness and demonstration of ability, is equal to which is not significant at level, because sig is more than This means that there is no significant relationship between the two variables and therefore, the above hypothesis is rejected. Table 7. Spearman correlation coefficient test between mental toughness and social support mental toughness and demonstration of ability According to Table 7, the r obtained between mental toughness and social support, is equal to which is significant at level, because sig is less than This means that there is a significant relationship between the two variables and therefore, the above hypothesis is confirmed. The direction of this relationship is negative and reverse and its intensity is weak, which means the less the social protection, the mental toughness increases over time. Table 8. Spearman correlation coefficient test between mental toughness and mimetic experiences mental toughness and mimetic experiences According to Table 8, the r obtained between mental toughness and mimetic experiences, is equal to which is significant at level, because sig is less than This means that there is a significant relationship between the two variables and therefore, the above hypothesis is confirmed. Table 9. Pearson correlation coefficient test between mental toughness and environmental comfort mental toughness and environmental comfort 53

9 Journal of Administrative Management, Education and Training (JAMET) According to Table 9, the r obtained between mental toughness and environmental comfort, is equal to which is significant at level, because sig is less than This means that there is a significant relationship between the two variables and therefore, the above hypothesis is confirmed. The direction of this relationship is negative and reverse and its intensity is weak, which means the less the environmental comfort, the mental toughness increases. Conclusion The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between mental toughness and selfconfidence resources of elite female volleyball players. In the following, we will discuss on any of the results of the study, compared with previous results. The relationship between mental toughness and environmental comfort and social support variables were negatively significant. Namely, whatever the social protection of athletes and his comfort are less, will be more mentally tough with time and under pressure. When an athlete is constantly under environmental pressure, becomes stronger both physically and mentally over time. When athletes are of less social protection from those around him, also when their environmental comfort reduce, i.e. more damages, threats, pressures and environmental risks further surround them, since they practice in high levels of sporting, these pressures make them self-sufficient and strong over time and their mental toughness is developed. According to researches of Kashani et al. (2011), Tracy et al. (2006), Gould et al. (2002), athletes who are under physical and psychological pressure more than others, must be very hardworking and competitive athletes, so not to surrender in physical and psychological pressures of competing and practicing; this result is in line with the researches of Jones et al. (2002), Bull et al. (2005), Gordon (2005), Thelwell et al. (2005). The researchers have noted that mental toughness of individuals in addition to inherited features, can be developed by learning and experience and environmental influences such as exposure to physical pressures. Of other hypotheses of the research was to investigate the relationship between the variables of mental/physical preparation and athletes mental toughness variable, which according to the results of research and statistical analyses, it was found that there is a positive relationship between these variables, in a way that by increasing one, the other is influenced and increased, and this connection is a direct one. The application of this finding suggests the issue that coaches and sport leaders who are associated with athletes, should mentally and physically strengthen the athletes day by day, to reach the good performance in the athlete. The above study is aligned with the research of Hamid Reza Qezelsofloo (2012) and Hatami et al. (2012). Therefore, athletes must satisfy the above factors to be able to appear mentally and physically tougher in exercise performances. Also Wilson (2000) in his dissertation research, explored the theoretical model of sport-confidence source in elderly, college and high school athletes among men and women. The results showed that among the sources of self-confidence, mental and physical preparation has been the most important predictor of confidence in different groups, so it can have the greatest effect on increasing mental toughness. Also, Lee Crust (2007), which carried out a general review of mental toughness, concluded that better performance in both mental and physical skills, is associated with high levels of mental toughness. In accordance with the results of this study, there is a direct relationship between the self-perception (perception of the person from himself. Perceptions due to experience and interpretation of individual environment. These perceptions are 54

10 particularly affected by important people, strengthening and assigning of a person of their behavior), mimetic experiences (the presence of other people, such as coaches and spectators in improvement of performance by motivation and reinforcement factors) and mental toughness of athletes which reflects the fact that self-perception and mimetic experiences are as factors increasing the athletes mental toughness in sports competitions, and these factors are of other factors which increase the motivation of athletes (Shafi'zadeh and Bahram, 2013). In a study conducted by Bandura et al. (1997), entitled Investigation of the Relationship between the Selfconfidence of Athletes and Their Success, it was concluded that the past performance and experience of the individual are the most reliable self-sufficiency or self-confidence source of information. In this regard in a study, Martin Jones and John Parker (2013), assessed the relationship between mental toughness and experiences of athletes. The results of multivariate regression analysis showed that the different experiences of youth is most relevant to mental toughness of athletes. Also, Gibson (1998), notes that mental toughness is related to an internal locus of control and self-expression. Previous studies have shown that experience of mastering the performed skills or past performance, is considered as the most powerful source of confidence for all athletes (Vealey & Cassh, 2008). Mental/physical preparation and past experiences are known as the most important sources of self-confidence in the team and individual athletes (Wilson et al., 2004), adolescents and adults (Balaguer, Castillo & Vealey, 2004). The relationship between the two subscales of coach leadership and demonstration of ability with mental toughness was not significant. The results showed that these variables do not affect each other. The coach leadership behavior is a source of sport-confidence originated from athlete's belief and confidence on the coach descisions. Vealey et al. (1998) noted that a small number of official trainers are among elite athletes. Therefore, it is possible for elite athletes to have less reliance on leadership behavior of the coach, less than high school or college athletes. In addition, skilled athletes purposes may be different from high school and college athletes. The athletes of the present study are of sports elites in the country, and with increasing the sports history, the importance of coaching leadership as a source of self-confidence, decreases. The reason for this is possibly due to the different perceived motivational space, which the experienced athletes experience, than the unexperienced athletes (Vealey, 1998), also, professional athletes due to more experiences, are self-centered and rather than relying on coach s experience, rely on their experience (Wilson et al., 2004). References Balaguer, I., Castillo, I., Tomás, I., & Vealey, R. S. (2004, September). A cultural analysis of sources and levels of confidence in Spanish and American female athletes. Paper presented at Association for Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology Conference, Minneapolis, MN. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. New York freeman. Besharat, M. A et al. (2009). The relationship between resilience and hardworking with sports success and mental health in athletes. Contemporary Psychology. The third period. Number 2. Bull, S. J. Shambrook, C. J. James, W. & Brooks, J. E. (2005). Towards an understanding of mental toughness in elite English cricketers. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 17, Gill, D. L. Dzewaitowski, D. A. & Deeter, T. E. (2002). The relationship of competitive and achievement orientation to participation in sport and nonsport activities. Journal of sport and exercise psychology, 10, Goldberg, A. S. (1998). Sports slump busting: 10 steps to mental toughness and peak performance. Champaign, IL.: Human Kinetics Gorbanali Gaziyani, F., (2009), the relationship of sport-confidence and success in weightlifting competitions, Journal of Sport Sciences, fifth year, tenth Issue. Gucciardi, D. F. & Gordon, S. and Dimmock, A. (2009). Advancing mental toughness research and theory using personal construct psychology. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Vol. 2, No. 1, 54_72. 55

11 Journal of Administrative Management, Education and Training (JAMET) Gucciardi, D. F. Gordon, S. & Dimmock, J. A. (2008). Towards an understanding of mental toughness in Australian football. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 20, Hatami, F. et al (2012). The relationship between mental toughness and physical preparation in female students. Sports psychology studies. No. 2. Winter pp Iranmanesh, Hamideh, (2014), the relationship between sport-confidence and motivation in Ping-Pong athletes on the basis of independence theory, sports psychology studies, Issue 8 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, Jones, Martin. John K. Parker. (2013). what is the size of the relationship between global mental toughness and youth experiences? Personality and Individual Differences 54 (2013) Kashani, V. et al. (2011). Comparison of mental toughness of male and female athletes of contacting and non-contacting fields at different skill levels. Second National Conference on Motor Behavior and Sports Psychology, Institute of Physical Education and Sport Sciences. Khosravinezhad, S., (2013), examination of the relationship between the two personality and self-confidence characteristics and their influence on athletic performance of female students of group and individual athletes, first regional conference on the evaluation of basic science courses, challenges and approaches. Loehr, J. E. (1986). Mental toughness training for sport: Achieving athletic excellence. Lexington, MA: Stephen Greene. Middleton, S. C. Marsh, H. W. Martin, A. J. Richards, G. E. & Perry, C. (2004). Discovering mental toughness: A qualitative study of mental toughness in elite athletes. Self Research Centre B. Qezelsofloo, H. R., (2012), Assessment of psychological profiles of Volleyball Super League of top eight teams in the country based on individual performance level of in acheiving success, the second National Conference on sports talent. Seyyed Hosseini, A.; Ismailzadeh Kandahari, M. R.; and Yadu'llahzadeh A., 2014, comparison of sport-confidence and priorities of its sources in novice and professional female volleyball players, Faculty of Sport Management, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research branch of Hormozgan, Iran. Shafi'zadeh, M; Bahram, A., (2013) determining the validity and reliability of sport-confidence in Iranian athletes, the sixth year. Sheard. M, Golby. J and Wersch. A. (2009). Progress toward Construct Validation of the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ). European Journal of Psychological Assessment; Vol. (3): Singh, J. Gaurav Dureja, Sukhbir Singh. (2012). A cross sectional analysis of mental toughness and will to win among elite football players. Brazilian Journal of Biomotricity, vol. 6, num. 4, December, 2012, pp Thelwell, R. Weston, N. & Greenlees, I. (2005). Defining and understanding mental toughness within soccer. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 17, 326_332. Tracey J. Devonport. (2006). Perception of the contribution of psychology to success in elite kickboxing, Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, CSSI, Vaez Mousavi, S. M. K; Mosayebi, F. (2007). Sport psychology. Samt Press. First Edition. Vealey, R. S., & Chase, M. A. (2008). Self-confidence in sport: Conceptual and research Advances. In T. S. Horn (Ed.), advances in Sport Psychology, 3rd ed., pp Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Vealey, R. S., Armstrong, L., Comar, W., & Greenleaf, C. A. (1998). Influence of perceived coaching behaviors on burnout and competitive anxiety in female college athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 10, Vealey, R. S., Chase, M. A., Magyar, T. M., & Galli, N. (2004, September). Sources and levels of confidence in female athletes: agerelated and seasonal influences. Paper presented at Association for Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology Conference, Minneapolis, MN Wilson, R. C., Sullivan, P. J., Myers, N. D., & Feltz, D. L. (2004). Sources of sport confidence of master athletes. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 26, Wilson. R, Sources of Sport Confidence of Senior Adult, College, and High school Athletes, 2000, University of Oregon, Edu. Zahid Babelan, A. et al (2011). Assessment of the relationship between psychological toughness and forgiveness with hope in athletes. Motor Behavior, No. 8, pp NILOUFAR EBRAHIMI, Master of Science in Sport Psychology, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran. 56