Application of the mental toughness/ hardiness scale on the sample of athletes engaged in different types of sports

During working with athletes, important is the understanding how psychological factors affect the performance of an individual: considering individual differences among athletes is necessary. Characteristics closely related to stress and coping with stress in athletes are mental toughness (toughness) and hardiness, which actually describe how an individual cope with stress and how remains resistant to stress. Main aim of this study is to determine the basic psychometric characteristics of Mental Toughness /Hardiness Scale (SMZO), as a part of the battery called Multidimensional questionnaire of sporting excellence (MUSI). Second aim is related to the determination of the differences in specific aspects of mental toughness/ hardiness, with regard to gender, type of sport, age group of athletes and the type of engagement in sport. Then we are determined the correlations established between some aspects of mental toughness/ hardiness, with chronological age of the athletes and their sports experience. A total of 248 participants is examined, 103 male athletes (age 24.52 ± 11.80 years) and 145 female athletes (age 16.61 ± 6.69 years), from Croatian sports clubs, engaged in 16 different sports. Factor analysis and determining the reliability type internal consistency showed that one-factor solution of SMZO has satisfactory reliability and validity. The means for all aspects of mental toughness / hardiness are above the theoretical average, both for male and female athletes, while the number of statistically significant differences in relation to independent variables is small. None statistically significant correlations are found, in relation to athletes' age and sports experience.