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Physical Activity and Mental Toughness in university students of tabriz

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Physical Activity and Mental Toughness in RESEARCH

University Students of Tabriz University RJSS JOURNAL OF

SPORT SCIENCES
Vol 3 (8): 226-232
http://www.rjssjournal.com
Mahta Eskandarnejad* ISSN: 2148-0834
Copyright © 2015
Received: 30 April 2015
Professor Assistance University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran Accepted: 07 September 2015
Published: 19 September 2015
*Corresponding Author Email: m.eskandarnejad@tabrizu.ac.ir

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to survey the mental toughness
and physical activity among student university of Tabriz. Baecke physical
activity questionnaire, mental thoughness48 and demographic
questionnaire was distributed between students. 355 questionnaires were
collected. Correlation, , multiple ANOVA and independent t-test was used
for analyzing the hypotheses. The result showed that there was significant
relationship between some of physical activity and mental toughness
subscales. Two groups active and non-active were compared to find out
the mental toughness differences, Student who obtained the 75% upper
the physical activity questionnaire was active (n=97) and Student who
obtained the 25% under the physical activity questionnaire was inactive
group (n=95).The difference between active and non-active physically
people showed that active student was significantly mentally toughness. It
is expected that changes in physical activity levels significantly could be
evidence of mental toughness changes, it should be noted that the other
variables should not be ignored.

KEYWORDS Mental Toughness, Physical Activity, Staff, Student, University of Tabriz.

INTRODUCTION

Mental toughness is one of the most used terms in applied sport psychology (Jones et al., 2002).Mental toughness
has been defined by Gucciardi et al (2009) as ‘‘a collection of attitudes, emotions, and cognitions that influence the
way in which an individual approaches, responds, and appraises demanding events to consistently achieve his or
her goals’’. Researchers agreed that mental toughness is characterized by an individual’s natural or developed
capacity to be consistently successful in coping with the stress and anxiety associated with competitive and stressful
situations. Thus, mental toughness is the ability to remain determined, confident and in control under stress and
pressure (Crust, 2008; Mack & Ragan, 2008). With this idea, it is important to question whether mental toughness
should be viewed as a trait, or a constellation of characteristics that are required for good performance. Gucciardi et
al. (2009) argued that mental toughness is one’s interpretation of events, and the sense that an individual is making
of such events. As such, mental toughness should be viewed as characteristics that influence the way a person
approaches and appraises both the positive and negative events. For the first time, Cattell (1957) used the concept
of Tough-mindedness in his 16 trait of personality structure. Definitions and characteristics of mental toughness
have been proposed by many authors, leading to a range of positive psychological characteristics which is being
associated with mental toughness. Kobasa et al (1982) defined hardiness as comprising three key components:
control, commitment, and challenge. Departing from the original hardiness model, Clough et al (2002) added
confidence as a fourth dimension to more fully represent the global nature of mental toughness. This factor has not
been considered as a distinct element in previous models of hardiness (Gerber et al., 2012). Clough (2002) defined

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that "the mentally tough individual has a high sense of self-belief and an unshakeable faith that they control
their own destiny. Furthermore, they remain relatively unaffected by competition or adversity". Limited
research has been done to link mental toughness with health-related behaviors (e.g. Crust & Keegan, 2010;
Gerber et al., 2010). Nevertheless, the toughness concept might also be of value for exercise psychologists
examining the relationships between physical activity and mental health. The relationships between physical
activity and mental health are multifaceted and complex. Some research has shown that physical activity
results in improved mood after acute bouts of exercise (Ekkekakis & Acevedo, 2006), relationships between
physical activity and depressive symptoms (e.g. Azar et al., 2008), linked regular participation in physical
activity with levels of perceived stress or burnout symptoms, reduce the negative outcomes associated with
negative life circumstances and high-perceived stress with elevated levels of physical activity, Higher scored
in most MTQ48 subscales were obtained by adolescents and young adults with higher exercise and physical
activity levels, Jones et al (2002) defined mental toughness and identified the attributes required to be a
mentally tough performer. The resulting definition emphasized a natural or developed construct that enabled
mentally tough performers to cope with the demands of training and competing better than their opponents.

Acquiring these research, mental toughness might be one way that physical activity and exercise can impact
an individuals’ mental health. Additionally, the mental health benefits of physical activity might be due to an
indirect influence such as protective factors that have been empirically linked with resilience development.
The construct of resilience is an unexpected positive adaptation despite a high risk when exposed to
psychosocial adversities (Cicchetti, 2010). Studies have shown that positive relationships exist between
mental toughness and psychological constructs such as optimism and self-efficacy (Clough et al., 2002;
Nicholls et al., 2008). There are several reasons why mental toughness and hardiness should enhance
individuals’ mental health (Maddi et al., 2006). Crust (2009) concluded that mentally tough athletes
experience similarly intense emotions as other athletes, but that they might differ in the way they manage
these. Guillén and Laborde (2014) found that the higher-order structure of mental toughness was found to be
the same for both athletes and non-athletes but athletes scored higher in mental toughness when compared
to non-athletes; the authors concluded that mental toughness is a higher-order construct encompassing
different characteristics and that sport participation is associated with higher mental toughness.

Despite, sport psychologists had great interest in the study of mental toughness; the contribution of physical
activity and mental toughness on has yet to be considered. For this reason, the main aim of the current study
was to survey the mental toughness of university students with varying levels of self-reported exercise and
physical activity and compare the active and non-active students.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Participants and Procedures

Participants were 355 students in the University of Tabriz, Iran. The mean age was 21.2±2.3. Participants
received detailed information about the purpose of the study and about the voluntary nature of their
participation. All participants were assured of the confidentiality of their responses and gave informed
written consent prior to completing the psychological questionnaires.

Instruments

Mental toughness

Participants were asked to complete the 48-item Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ48: Clough et al.,
2002). The MTQ48 measures total mental toughness has six subcomponents. Clough et al (2002)
demonstrated that mentally tough individuals perceived less exertion during intensive physical activity. To
ensure optimal translations, we rigorously followed the procedure and then back-translated into English by
an independent translator. Consensus was reached on a final version that was subjected to the translation-
retranslation process in Persian. Researchers identified components of Mental Toughness in this way:

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Control: Individuals who score high on control feel that they are in control of their work and of the
environment in which they work. Ongoing development of MTQ48 has enabled the identification of 2
subscales to this scale:

Control (Emotion): Individuals scoring highly on this scale are better able to control their emotions. Control
(Life): Individuals scoring higher on this scale are more likely to believe that they control their lives.

Challenge: Describes the extent to which individuals see challenges as opportunities that prefer to minimize
their exposure to change and the problems that come with that - and will strongly prefer to work in stable
environments.

Commitment: Sometimes described as "stick ability", this describes the ability for an individual to carry out
tasks successfully despite any problems or obstacles that arise whilst achieving the goal.

Confidence: Individuals who are high in confidence have the self-belief to successfully complete tasks, which
may be considered too difficult by individuals with similar abilities but with lower confidence. This
component was identified of 2 subscales:

Confidence (Abilities): Individuals scoring highly on this scale are less dependent on external validation and
tend to be more optimistic about life in general. Confidence (Interpersonal): Individuals scoring highly on this
scale are more likely to push themselves forward in groups. They are also better able to cope with difficult or
awkward people.

Habitual physical activity questionnaire (Baecke’s questionnaire, HPA)

Baecke’s questionnaire includes 16 questions comprehending three HPA scores from the past 12 months and
classified into three domains: work, sports, and non-sports leisure activity: Occupational physical activities
score (8 questions); physical exercises in leisure (PEL) score (4 questions); leisure and locomotion physical
activities (LLA) score (4 questions). Each domain has several questions scored on a five-point Likert scale,
ranging from never to always or very often. It means that work was the mean score among eight occupational
questions, sports was the mean score among four sports-related questions, and non-sports leisure was the
mean score among four habitual physical activities during leisure time. Each domain could receive a score
from one to five points, thus allowing a total score from three (minimum) to fifteen (maximum). For the two
most frequently reported sports activities, specific questions regarding the number of months per year and
hours per week of participation were addressed. The original BQ was translated into Persian using the
forward and backward translation procedure. Two professional translators independently translated the
original scale once.

Data analysis

To identify possible correlation, Pearson’s correlations were calculated to analyze the relationships between
participants’ physical activities and their levels of mental toughness. Multivariate analysis of variance
(MANOVA) and t-student test was also used to test for differences in mental toughness between subjects with
varying exercise and physical activity levels (active and non-active). All statistical analyses were computed
using software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version20.

RESULTS

Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses

Table 1 provides an overview of descriptive statistics of the total toughness index and the MTQ48 subscales
and participants’ levels of physical activity. All indices were normally distributed (kurtosis, skewers), which
allowed the use of parametric methods of data analysis.

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Table 1. Means and standard deviations for the main study variables.

Variables Mean SD Minimum Maximum

Challenge 26.36 4.38 14 60
Commitment 37.59 5.48 23 64
Mental toughness

Confidence (Abilities) 29.29 5.26 11 76

Confidence 19.62 3.21 8 29
(Interpersonal)
Control (Emotion) 20.47 3.31 10 30
Control (Life) 23.50 3.67 13 35
Overall MTQ 156.84 17.44 101 213
Occupational 2.67 .61 1 4.63
physical activities
Physical activity

Physical exercises in 2.49 .80 1 4.75

leisure
leisure and 2.57 .67 1 4.50
Locomotion physical
activities
Overall Physical 7.74 1.51 3.75 12
activity

In order to identify cases of multicollinearity between scores on the PA and MTQ, Pearson correlations were
computed (see Table 2).

Table 2. Correlation Matrix Physical activity and Mental toughness.

Confidence Confidence Control Control Overall
Challenge Commitment
(Abilities) (Interpersonal) (Emotion) (Life) MTQ
Occupational r 0.33 -0.050 0.001 0.035 -0.011 -0.067 -0.017
physical
Sig. 0.534 0.347 0.981 0.506 0.833 0.209 0.753
activities
Physical r 0.156** 0.183** 0.130* 0.195** 0.135* 0.114* 0.222**
exercises in
leisure Sig. 0.003 0.001 0.014 0.001 0.011 0.032 0.001
Leisure and r 0.185** 0.192** 0.150** 0.138** 0.146** 0.152** 0.237**
locomotion
physical Sig. 0.001 0.001 0.005 0.009 0.006 0.004 0.001
activities
Overall r 0.178** 0.162** 0.136* 0.179** 0.131* 0.102 0.216**
Physical
activity .Sig 0.001 0.002 0.010 0.001 0.013 0.056 0.001
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Most of the metal toughness subscales showed small to moderate correlations with most of the physical
activity. It should mention that, there wasn't relationship between Occupational physical activities with
overall and subscales of mental toughness. To identify differences in mental toughness between subjects with
varying physical activity levels, independent t test was used for overall MT and multianalyses of variance
(MANOVA) were also used for MT subscale. Two groups were compared to find out whether participants who
do or do not accomplish recommended levels of physical activity (based on the HBA) differ with regard to
their self-reported. Student who obtained the 75% upper the physical activity questionnaire was active
(n=97) and Student who obtained the 25% under the physical activity questionnaire was inactive group

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(n=95). To evaluate and compare overall MT, t-test analysis was used. The details of these test is presented in
Table 3.

Table 3. T test for comparison of mean scores of two groups.

Levene's Test for
Equality of t-test for Equality of Means
Variances
MTQ Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error
F Sig. t df tailed) Difference Difference

Equal variances 1.347 0.247 4.07 190 0.001 10.08 2.47

assumed

The Leven test for equal variances is calculated equal to F = 1.347 in significant level of 0.211, because the
variances of two groups are equal. Therefore, the value of t is equal to 4.07 and the significance level of 0.001.
Therefore we can say that there is significant difference between the two groups and physically active student
had upper levels of mental toughness. To evaluate and compare subscales of MT, MANOVA analysis was used.
The details of these tests are presented in Table 4.

Table4. Multivariate Tests for MT subscales.

Hypothesis Partial Eta
Effect Value F Error df Sig.
df Squared
Pillai's Trace 0.132 4.69 6 185 0.001 0.132

Follow-up showed significant univariate main effects of physical activity on most MTQ48 subscales except life
control. Bonferroni post-hoc tests disclosed that participants with low physical activity scored significantly
lower than those high physical activities scored (Table5).

Table5. Post-hoc tests of MTQ subscales.

Dependent Type III Partial
Source Variable SS df MS F Sig. Eta
Squared
Challenge 155.74 1 155.74 7.36 0.007 0.037

Commitment 293.45 1 293.45 11 0.001 0.055

Physical activity

Confidence 264.43 1 264.43 7.34 0.007 0.037

(Abilities)
Confidence 91.41 1 91.41 8.97 0.003 0.045
(Interpersonal)

Control (Emotion) 88.05 1 88.05 9.03 0.003 0.045

Control (Life) 25.16 1 25.16 1.68 0.196 0.009

The result showed that active students are mentally tough in all subscales except life control. Significant
multivariate differences on the various mental toughness subscales existed between participants classified
below and above the recommended levels of physical activity. Based on univariate postdoc, participants who
engaged in sufficient levels of physical activity reported higher toughness scores on five of the six MTQ48
subscales, with levels of explained variance ranging between 3.7% (challenge and ability confidence) up to
5.5% (commitment).

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DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

This study provides a perspective on the relationship between physical activity and mental toughness by
sampling participants from university student. The main aim of this study was to examine the relationship
between mental toughness and the amount of physical activity and whether active and non-active students
differ regarding their mental toughness. Mental toughness has been predominantly investigated from a
performance-oriented perspective. To our knowledge, this is the first study that examined differences in
mental toughness between university students with difference physical activity levels. In literature
mentioned that mental toughness constitutes a potential of how physical activity and exercise contribute to
participants’ mental health, and mental toughness, the ability to remain determined, focused, in control and
confident under all circumstances is a personal characteristic associated with optimal sport performance. It is
possible that mental toughness is also associated with physical activity behavior (Jones et al., 2007).
Therefore, we expected that variations in levels of physical activity account for variations in mental toughness
as the presumed mediator variable. Our main findings of the present study are that self-reported habitual
physical activities are related to mental toughness in university students. There was a positive correlation
between mental toughness and physical activity (ρ =0.21, p ≤ 0.01). It means that, individuals with higher
physical activity levels scored higher on the most of the MTQ48 scales. Thus, individuals who accomplished
recommended levels of physical activity also reported relatively high mental toughness. This finding was not
surprising because mental toughness and physical activity in youth has never been examined; the results
from this study are similar to past research that has examined variables similar to the three aspects (physical,
mental and emotional) of mental toughness such as resiliency, self-determined motivation and intentions. But
it should be mentioned that the relation between variables subscales are different and the point is that there
wasn't significant relation between Occupational physical activities and all the scales of MTQ, it can be
remove of the analysis because of this item question and most of them didn't have an clear career. The
current study extends previous research (e.g., Connaughton et al., 2010; Gucciardi & Jones, 2012) but the
relationship is not as strong as previous researchers suggest. The participants in the current study were older
than Jones and Parker (2013). Also, some of the items should be made more difficult in order to discriminate
between two levels of physical activity. For discriminate differences in mental toughness between active and
non-active groups, results showed that active student are mentally tough in overall and subscales. The results
of this study are in line with past studies that found a significant relationship between physical activity and
coping resources such as self-esteem, self-efficacy and mental toughness (Gerber et al., 2012). Furthermore,
the findings support previous research. Cleland et al (2010) after examining 291 women with low educational
status found that personal aspects of their lives such as, enjoyment, self-efficacy, barriers and intentions
(correlates of mental toughness) had the strongest association to people meeting the recommended levels of
leisure time PA. One possible explanation for the finding that physical activity and exercise are related to
mental toughness might be that exercise and sport provide a suitable setting for the acquisition of mental
toughness attributes. From a mental health perspective, mental toughness might be seen as a resilience
resource (Nicholls et al., 2008). Levy et al (2006) have shown that high mental toughness might have
regarding individuals’ health behaviors. In summary, high levels of mental toughness may contribute to high
levels of better mental health, in some circumstances; it may lead to healthy behaviors and more active life.
We can conclude that a high degree of select the physical activity in Occupational and leisure time may have
been due to high mental toughness. It is better that future researchers control for priming context which can
effects potentially (item-induced mood states), because it is possible that the shown differences were due to
this elements. It should be attention that in this study only self-report measures were used, the variance
observed can be attributable to the measurement method rather than to the construct of interest (i.e.,
methods bias: Podsakoff et al., 2003). The result should be used with attention because of small sample size
and we recruited only non-athlete participants and therefore the present findings might not be transferred to
athletes. Future research should compare mental toughness against objective measures of physical activity in
gender, age levels, the number of years a person has been practicing in a sport and the quantity of training. In
addition, it is thought that mental toughness is affected by environment, as such it would be interesting to
evaluate whether practicing and participant in sport or physical activity can make differences in mental
toughness, then longitudinal studies are needed to survey that whether increased levels of mental toughness
are due to increases of exercise or physical activity or the differences in mental toughness are just caused by
personality not by participating in exercise and physical activity.

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