Motivational correlates of mentally tough behaviours in tennis

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Author
Gucciardi, Daniel
Jackson, Ben
Hanton, Sheldon
Reid, Machar
Date
2015Type
Article
Publisher
Elsevier
ISSN
1440-2440
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine motivational correlates of mentally tough behaviours
among adolescent tennis players.
Design: Two-phase study, involving the development of an informant-rated measure of mentally tough
behaviours, followed by a cross-sectional survey including athlete and parent assessments of study
variables.
Methods: In Phase One, 17 adult, high-performance tennis coaches and 20 athletes participated in focus
group interviews. Four scholars with expertise in performance psychology also completed a short, online
survey. In Phase Two, a total of 347 adolescent tennis players (nmales = 184; nfemales = 163) aged 12–18
years (M = 13.93, SD = 1.47) and one respective parent took part in this study. An online multisection
survey containing dimensions of passion, inspiration, fear of failure, and mentally tough behaviours was
completed. Athletes self-reported all motivational variables, whereas parents rated their child solely on
mentally tough behaviours.
Results: Structural equation modelling revealed that harmonious passion (ˇ = .26, p < .01) and frequency
of inspiration (ˇ = .32, p < .001) were associated with significantly higher levels of mentally tough
behaviours. In contrast, fear of failure (ˇ =
−.32, p < .001) and obsessive passion (ˇ =
−.15, p < .01) were
inversely related to mentally tough behaviours. Inspiration intensity was not significantly associated
with mentally tough behaviour (ˇ = .13, p = .21).
Conclusions: Motivational variables that are dispositional in nature, contextualised and contingent upon
features of the environment, and concern one’s identity are important considerations for understanding
mentally tough behaviours.
Journal/conference proceeding
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport;
Citation
Gucciardi, D.F., Jackson, B., Hanton, S. and Reid, M. (2015) 'Motivational correlates of mentally tough behaviours in tennis', Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 18 (1), pp. 67-71
Description
This article was published in Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport on 23 December 2013 (online), available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2013.11.009
The author's post-print is made available in this repository.
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives LicenseSponsorship
This study was funded by a Tennis Australia Sport Science and Medicine Research Grant to the first author.
Collections
- Sport Research Groups [620]
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License
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