Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Thesis

Keywords

High school athletes--Psychology; Wrestlers--Psychology; Wrestling--Psychological aspects; Academic theses;

Abstract

Very little research has examined mental toughness abilities of high school sport participants. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to assess the mental toughness abilities of high school wrestlers as well as determine if an entire competitive season results in a change in mental toughness in wrestlers. A total of 63 high school male wrestlers participated in this study. They were asked to complete the MeBTough Questionnaire and a demographic questionnaire at the beginning of the regular competitive wrestling season and again at the end of the competitive wrestling season. Data was collected over a 3 month period at the participating high school's wrestling room. It was hypothesized that mental toughness abilities would be positively related with age, wrestling experience, and ability level. Pearson correlation results indicated that mental toughness was positively related to age (r = .26, p < .05) and ability level (r = .30; p > .05), but not experience (p = .074 ). A paired-sample t test was calculated to determine whether mental toughness scores changed over the course of a competitive wrestling season. No significant difference from pre-test to post-test was found (p = .96) indicating a competitive wrestling season was not enough time for high school wrestlers to gain mental toughness. In conclusion, mental toughness was positively correlated with season winning percentage suggesting that it may be an important factor for high school wrestlers. A positive correlation with age also suggests that mental toughness may have a developmental component.

Year of Submission

2010

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services

First Advisor

Mick Mack

Second Advisor

Windee Weiss

Third Advisor

Todd A. Evans

Comments

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Date Original

2010

Object Description

1 PDF file (76 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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