The motivational antecedents of the development of mental toughness: a self-determination theory perspective

Mahoney, John; Ntoumanis, Nikos; Mallett, Clifford J.; Gucciardi, Daniel F.

doi:10.1080/1750984x.2014.925951

Cited by 61 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…We suspect that, consistent with a robust body of literature on SDT and coping (Mahoney, Ntoumanis, Mallett, & Gucciardi, ; Ntoumanis, Edmunds, & Duda, ; Quested et al, ; Skinner & Edge, ; also, see Weinstein & Ryan, for a review), the relationships between having one's needs satisfied and waiting with greater ease stems from the fact that feeling autonomous, competent, and related can help people to better cope with stressors. That is, need fulfilment leads to better coping, which protects people from worry and poor sleep.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Fulfilling psychological needs predicts less sleep disruption and worry while awaiting uncertain news

Howell

Sweeny

2019

Stress and Health

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Research on self‐determination theory suggests that people have fundamental needs to feel autonomous, competent, and socially connected and that fulfilling these needs is critical for well‐being. In the present study, we examined whether fulfilling psychological needs is associated with physical and psychological well‐being—specifically sleep disruption and worry, two key indicators of well‐being during waiting periods—while managing the unique stress of awaiting uncertain news. In a study of law graduates during the 4 months while they awaited their California bar exam (the exam one is required to pass before practicing law) results, personal increases in need fulfilment related to temporally congruent reductions in sleep disruption and worry. In addition, those whose needs were most fulfilled during the waiting period responded less negatively to failing the bar exam. The picture for need frustration was mixed; only autonomy frustration was associated with concurrent increases in worry, although those whose needs were more frustrated in general also experienced greater worry and sleep disruption on average. On the whole, our findings suggest that self‐determination theory needs may be a fruitful target for interventions that can protect well‐being while people wait and even once their uncertainty is resolved.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Fulfilling psychological needs predicts less sleep disruption and worry while awaiting uncertain news

Howell

Sweeny

2019

Stress and Health

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“…Furthermore, when experiencing basic need frustration, a heightened need to be resilient in order to encounter the maladaptive situation appears. As a paradox, research based on the SDT framework has highlighted that when less self‐determined, the ability to negotiate stress and adversity to engage in resilience and restoration processes are hampered . Altogether, the above factors seem to trap the vulnerable and exposed elite junior performers, which experience moderate and increasing frustration of autonomy and competence, into a maladaptive motivational process .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reaching the top in sports and performing arts can be hard and stressful . The motivational mechanisms of the basic psychological needs might over time underpin why some elite junior performers survive and thrive, despite adversity, and why others experience ill‐being and diminished functioning . Both personal and contextual factors are found to influence the motivational functioning of elite junior performers .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Change in basic need frustration in relation to perfectionism, anxiety, and performance in elite junior performers

Haraldsen

Solstad

Ivarsson

et al. 2020

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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The present study examined whether there were different growth profiles in basic need frustration in elite junior performers over a nine‐month period. Subsequently, we examined whether the identified growth profiles differed in their levels of perfectionistic strivings and evaluative concerns measured at baseline and, additionally, whether they were associated with higher or lower levels of anxiety and perceived performance level in the end of the period. A sample of 259 (Mage = 17.31; SDage = 0.97) elite junior performers from sports and performing arts completed an online questionnaire to report their self‐ratings of the study variables. The analyses were conducted using growth mixture modeling in Mplus 8.0. Two main contrasting growth profiles were identified in each of the basic need frustration. Perfectionistic strivings were overall higher than evaluative concerns, but did not differ between the growth profiles. Conversely, evaluative concerns differed significantly between the identified growth profiles. Higher levels of evaluative concerns were associated with the most maladaptive growth profiles. Indeed, elite junior performers, who experienced moderate and increasing levels of competence and autonomy frustration, reported higher levels of anxiety and lower levels of perceived performance level than those who reported low and decreasing levels of competence and autonomy frustration. Based on these findings, evaluative concerns and basic need frustration appear to play key roles in the development of maladaptive motivational processes over time.

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“…First, it is the first SDT-based intervention with mental toughness as an outcome variable, hence, it makes a unique contribution to both SDT and mental toughness literatures. Second, it experimentally tests previous arguments and correlational evidence that have indicated associations between SDT variables and mental toughness (Mahoney et al, 2014a(Mahoney et al, , 2014b. Third, it provides both quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the effectiveness of the intervention and identifies barriers and solutions for future intervention work in this area.…”

Section: The Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In so doing, researchers have attempted to ground understanding of mental toughness development in established theory from broader fields of psychological enquiry. In particular, one group of researchers have argued for (Mahoney, Gucciardi, Ntoumanis, & Mallett, 2014b) and provided preliminary evidence (Mahoney, Gucciardi, Ntoumanis, & Mallett, 2014a) to support the usefulness of self-determination theory (SDT, Deci & Ryan, 1985b) for understanding mental toughness development. The purpose of the current study was to extend on these recent advances by evaluating the effectiveness of an SDT-informed intervention for developing mental toughness in a sport setting.…”

Section: Chapter IV An Autonomy-supportive Intervention Intended To mentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of mental toughness in adolescents: utilising established theories

Mahoney

Self Cite

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My intention for this thesis was to explore the factors that contribute to mental toughness development by considering the perspectives of individuals during critical stages of personal growth, and to embed such understandings within established theories from broader fields of psychological enquiry. Initially, I explored the innate and environmental factors that adolescents believed contributed to mental toughness, as well as attempted to ground such knowledge within an established theory from broader fields of psychological enquiry. I recruited eighteen adolescents (9 boys, 9 girls, Mage = 15.6 years) with a 'reputation' of mental toughness and invited them to participate in focus group interviews. Seven of these adolescents also participated in follow-up 1-1 interviews. Both focus groups and 1-1 interviews began with questions pertaining to the conceptual components of mental toughness (e.g., "what allows you to regularly perform to the best of your abilities?") and its development (e.g., "where did these characteristics originate from?"). Inductive analyses of participants' perspectives revealed that mental toughness development was predicated by four factors: interactions with significant others, the provision of supportive social processes, exposure to critical incidents, and a personal propensity for curiosity. These findings were interpreted within the context of Bronfenbrenner's (2001) bioecological model. I concluded that, while my findings were one of the first to advocate for the combined role of innate and environmental factors in the development of mental toughness, it is the latter that is of greatest interest from an applied perspective and should be more closely considered in the future.Subsequently, I sought to focus my efforts on the environmental factors that contribute to mental toughness development. Although the bioecological model is a useful framework for categorising the factors associated with mental toughness development, it is not easily applied to practice. That is, the framework is more descriptive than practical in nature. As such, I contested that there was a need to draw on another theory that, although consistent with the bioecological model, possesses strong applied implications.iii As such, I investigated the utility of Self-determination theory (SDT, Deci & Ryan, 1985b) principles for understanding mental toughness development. I predicted that coaching environments (i.e., autonomy-supportive, controlling) would be related to mental toughness indirectly through psychological needs satisfaction, and that psychological needs satisfaction would indirectly relate with performance and psychological health (i.e., positive/negative affect) through mental toughness.I recruited 221 adolescent cross-country runners (136 male and 85 female, Mage = 14.36) and invited them to complete questionnaires pertaining to their perceived coaching environments, the degree to which their psychological needs were satisfied, mental toughness, and psychological health. Performance was measur...

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The motivational antecedents of the development of mental toughness: a self-determination theory perspective

Cited by 61 publications

References 47 publications

Fulfilling psychological needs predicts less sleep disruption and worry while awaiting uncertain news

Fulfilling psychological needs predicts less sleep disruption and worry while awaiting uncertain news

Change in basic need frustration in relation to perfectionism, anxiety, and performance in elite junior performers

The development of mental toughness in adolescents: utilising established theories

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