KAAV INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTS,

HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES
KIJAHS/APR-JUN2017/VOL-4/ISS-2/A3 page no- 7-11
ISSN:2348- 4349 Impact factor(2017) – 7.9183
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  PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT IN SPORTS: TEAM

COHESION AND MENTAL TOUGHNESS
1
VILEEP K S
1
Department of Physical Education,Kuvempu Universirty,Jnanasahyadri,
Shankaraghatta,Shivamogga,Karnataka, India,

Abstract
Introduction:Psychology entered in physical education much earlier than it did sports.
Now such phrases as "Psychological conditioning", "Psychological preparation",
"psychological training" etc. have become common in the field of sports.Modern man lives in a
world, in which the important skills for success are based on his psychological abilities. He
must perform the psychological dimensions of his life in order to seek an explanation for his
behaviour. The psychology has made its contribution to all sports in a big way. It has helped
coaches to coach more effectively, and athletes to perform proficiently. Psychology is also
concerned with the total well being and personal adjustment of those involved in sports.
Physical and psychological interactions are reflected through physical activities, games and
sports.
Conclusion: Despite a history of some controversy, psychological tests now contribute
significantly to the development of talented athletes and performing artists, and enable others
to optimise their performance. This is particularly so when tests are used in conjunction with
input from coaches, parents and peers, interviews, observations and other behavioural
measures. The ongoing development of such instruments will strengthen psychology’s
contribution to sport and the performing arts.
Key words: psychological, games, sports.
Introduction:
Psychology entered in physical education much earlier than it did sports. Now such
phrases as "Psychological conditioning", "Psychological preparation", "psychological training"
etc. have become common in the field of sports.
The psychology can help in achieving the sports excellence by the sportsmen. Role of
psychology in selection, training, training materials and rehabilitations would definitely help in
achieving sports excellence. The emphasis has been laid on pointing out that psychology and
sports converge at the same point and excellence in sports can be optimally obtained by
developing appropriate strategies. A majority of research undertaken in Physical Education
is focused on the physiological areas of human performance. Usually in a competitive
situation, the probability is that both teams possess nearly the same physical skills and fitness
levels. But beyond that the Winner is determined by mental preparation. Hence the purpose of

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sports psychology is to understand, explain, predict and control behaviour of players and
athletes.
Important of Psychological Assessment in Sports
(1) It helps athletes begin to organize their ideas about the mental game before we meet with
them.
(2) It provides a nice place to start the sports psychology coaching process.
(3) It helps mental coaches develop a mental game plan prior to meeting with athletes.
Team Cohesion
A dynamic process which is reflected in the tendency for a group to stick together and remain
united in the pursuit of goals and objectives.
There are many group dynamics that take place within a sporting team. One of the most
important is cohesion. One is always hearing about how important it is for a team to "gel" or
"bond" or "have good chemistry." Cohesive teams can achieve dramatic and awesome things.
The way players interact has a tremendous impact on the way a team performs. As Hall (1960)
put it, "The fittest to survive and succeed are those able to find their strength in cooperation,
able to build teams based upon mutual helpfulness, and responsibility for one’s fellow
teammates.
Types of Team Cohesion:
• Task Cohesion
• Social Cohesion
Task Cohesion:
Degree to which members of a team work together to achieve a specific and identifiable goal.
Social Cohesion:
Degree to which the members of a team like each other and enjoy personal satisfaction from
being members of the team.
Developing Team Cohesion
• Team Cohesion as a Process
• Team Building
• Specific Interventions Designed to Enhance Team Cohesion
Team Cohesion Measured by Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ) byAlbert V.
Carron EtAl. (1985)
The GEQ of Carron et al. (1985) which measures the athletes’ perceptions of their team’s
cohesion. The GEQ is a self-report questionnaire that comprises 18 items. They are categorized
into four cohesion subscales: individual attraction to the group-task (ATG-T, four items),
individual Attraction to Group-Social (ATG-S, five items), Group Integration-Task (GI-T, five
items) and Group Integration Social (GI-S, four items). The items are measured on a nine-point
Likert-type scale anchored at the extremes by “strongly disagree” [1] and “strongly agree” [9].
Higher scores reflect stronger perceptions of cohesiveness.
The questionnaire is made of 18 items, out of which four items are related to
individual attraction to group-task (items 2, 4, 6, and 8); five items are related to individual
attractions to group-social (5,9,1,3, & 7) ; five items are related to group integration task
(10,12,14,16 and 18); and finally four items are related to group integration-social
(11,13,17 and 15). Members were requested to respond to all 18 statements about their
team on a nine-point scale, which is anchored at the two extremes by “strongly disagree”
and “strongly agree”. The score on any specific scale was computed by obtaining the sum
of response scores for a subject from the pertinent set of items.
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Num
Sl. Item/ statement
Particulars ber of Scoring Key
No. No.
items
01 Individual Attraction To The 04 Strongly disagree-
2 ,4 ,6, and 8
Group-Task (ATG-T, four items) 9 to Strongly agree-1
02 03 Strongly disagree-
1, 3, and 7,
Individual Attraction To Group 9 to Strongly agree-1
Social (ATG-S, Five items), 02 Strongly disagree-
5 and 9
1 to Strongly agree-9
03 03 Strongly disagree-
10,12 and 16,
Group Integration-Task (GI-T, 1 to Strongly agree-9
five items) 02 Strongly disagree-
14 and 18
9 to Strongly agree-1
04 03 Strongly disagree-
11,13 and 17
Group Integration Social (GI-S, 9 to Strongly agree-1
four items). 01 Strongly disagree-
and 15
1 to Strongly agree-9

• Constructed by Albert V. Carron etal. (1985)

• Primary inventory of choice among sport psychologists.
• Composed of 18 items which measure four dimensions or subscales.
• Based upon the Conceptual Model of Team Cohesion.

Mental Toughness
"Mental Toughness is the quality which determines in large part how people deal with
challenge, stress and pressure irrespective of prevailing circumstances"
It can also be described as the link between peak performance and stress management
Mental Toughness (MT) helps us to understand why one person succeeds & another
struggle when the pressure is on.

Mental Toughness for Athletes

For students, MT impacts on:
A) Performance
• it explains up to 25% of the variation in individual performance
B) Behaviour
• are more engaged,
• are more positive and
• have a more "can do" attitude
C) Wellbeing
• are more content,
• have better stress management,
• experience less bullying

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Mental Toughness Development

Mental toughness capability can be developed in many individuals (but may not be all)

Mental Toughness Measured By Psychological Performance Inventory by Loehr

The Psychological Performance Inventory (PPI) (Loehr, 1986) was used to measure
mental toughness. The forty two item scale yields an overall mental toughness score as well as
seven six-item subscale scores in (a) self-confidence, (b) negative energy control, (c) attention
control, (d) visualisation and imagery control, (e) motivation, (f) positive energy and (g)
attitude control. Subscale scores ranged from a low of 6 to a desirable high of 30 and total
scores from 42 to 210. Scores were recorded on a five point Likert scale anchored by ‘almost
always’ often, sometimes, seldom and ‘almost never.’ Every item is arranged in a way to get
the frequency and intensity (15 items with a negative value, those items are 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 14,
15, 16, 20, 23, 24, 30, 31, 33, 38). Fifteen are negative statements which have to be reverse
scored means (1- 5) and 27 statements are to be scored positively means (5-1).

Negative Visualization
Self Attention Positive Attitude
energy and imagery Motivation
confidence control energy control
control control
1 _____ 2 _____ 3_____ 4_____ 5_____ 6_____ 7_____
8 _____ 9 _____ 10_____ 11_____ 12_____ 13_____ 14_____
15_____ 16_____ 17_____ 18_____ 19_____ 20_____ 21_____
22_____ 23_____ 24_____ 25_____ 26_____ 27_____ 28_____
29_____ 30 ____ 31_____ 32_____ 33_____ 34_____ 35_____
36_____ 37_____ 38_____ 39_____ 40_____ 41_____ 42_____
T T T T T T T

• Constructed by Loehr (1986)

• It is used to measure the mental toughness.
• It includes 48
42 questions.
Conclusion:
Despite a history of some controversy, psychological tests now contribute significantly
to the development of talented athletes and performing artists, and enable others to optimize
their performance. This is particularly so when tests are used in conjunction with input from
coaches, parents and peers, interviews, observations and other behavioural measures. The
ongoing development of such instruments will strengthen psychology’s contribution to sport
and the performing arts.
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References:
1. Kahn, R.L., Wolfe, D.M., Quinn, R.P., Snoek, J.D. and Rosenthal, R.A. (1964)
Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity, New York: Wiley
2. Kitzinger, J. (1995) ‘Introducing focus groups’, British Medical Journal, 311, 299-302
3. Kress, J.L., and Statler, T. (2007) ‘A naturalistic investigation of former Olympic
cyclists’ cognitive strategies for coping with exertional pain during performance’,
Journal of Sport Behavior, 30, 428-452
4. Lee, C. (1988) ‘The relationship between goal setting, self-efficacy, and female field
hockey team performance’, International Journal of Sport Psychology, 20, 147-161
5. Locke, E.A. (1996) ‘Motivation through conscious goal setting’, Applied & Preventive
Psychology, 5, 117-124
6. Anil Kumar, A B (2014) Team cohesion and mental toughness among Ranji trophy and
other age group national level cricket players. Doctoral thesis, Kuvempu University.
7. https://www.psychology.org.au/Content.aspx?ID=4989
8. http://www.psychwww.com/sports/cohesion.htm
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_cohesiveness

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