The relationship between athletes’ grit, mental toughness, and sport resilience

Abstract

Background and Study Aim. Several studies have been conducted on athletes’ grit, mental toughness, and sports resilience. However, such studies have not been documented for athletes in the Higher Education sector in the Philippines. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between grit, mental toughness, and sports resilience among student-athletes at a selected state university. Material and Methods. The respondents for this study were student-athletes from Bulacan State University in the Philippines. Data were collected from male and female university student-athletes who participated in regional and national competitions. Purposive sampling procedures were employed to select participants from among 358 student-athletes. A total of 264 participants (male, n = 162, 61.4%; female, n = 102, 38.6%) took part in the study. Data collection involved the use of a questionnaire consisting of four sections. Section A sought the student-athlete’s demographic characteristics such as age, sex, and sports event. Section B consisted of the Grit Scale with 12 item questions. Section C comprised the Mental Toughness Questionnaire with 14 items to assess the student-athletes’ mental toughness. Section D consisted of the Resilience Scale for Athletes with 27 items. Using SmartPLS4, a factor analysis was performed to determine if the questionnaires were applicable in the current cultural context. This statistical analysis also assessed the reliability and validity of the instruments. Lastly, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS ver. 29) was used to perform multiple regression analysis. Results. It was observed that grit and mental toughness predict sports resilience [F(2, 261) = 62.553, p < .001]. Furthermore, the R² = .324 indicates that the model accounts for 32.4% of the variance in sports resilience. The coefficients were also regressed to determine the direct influence of each independent variable. It was found that grit predicts sports resilience (β = .250, t = 5.000, p < .001), indicating a direct relationship. Moreover, it was observed that mental toughness predicts sports resilience (β = .314, t = 5.325, p < .001), suggesting that mental toughness directly influences sports resilience. Conclusions. The results of this study highlight the vital role that mental toughness and grit play in helping athletes develop sports resilience. Future research should examine the differences in mental toughness and grit among athletes with different athletic statuses. Limitations and recommendations for further research are also presented.