College of Liberal Arts

De La Salle University
Department of Psychology
Graduate School

Title

Submitted by:
Garcia, Victor Benedict Vienne
Lampitoc, Raniel

Submitted to:
Dr. Homer Yabut
PSY580M
I. Introduction
The concept of mental toughness has recently fascinated the scholars of sport
psychology.
The trend in their researches is to develop the building blocks of psychological factors to
positively affect the performances of athletes (Jones, Hanton, & Connaughton, 2007). It is
considered as a new psychological paradigm that is multidimensional -- involves cognitive,
affective and behavioral components (Jones et al., 2007). There are researches that focused on
linking mental toughness, a set of psychological constructs, to the success of an athlete’s
performance (Mahoney et. Al. 2016, Butt, Weinberg, & Culp, 2010; Jones, Hanton, &
Connaughton, 2002). There are different researches on how mental toughness worked in
different psychological factors. In the study of Heisler (2009), they did not find evidences that
athletes with different levels of mental toughness reported to have different types of stressors. In
the study of Nichols and colleagues (2009), found out that there were no significant variances in
the mental toughness among athletes who participate in team or individual sports and athletes
who participate in contact or non-contact sports. ​The finding suggests that Mental Toughness
is a personality trait that does not disagree from situation to situation. With this given
circumstances, Mental Toughness in sports determines as a makeshift to outwit others but
the questions lingers how well they are pursuing a goal in performing more against an
opponent and this psychological factor also makes an difference between physical tough
athletes to an elite and great athletes.
Notwithstanding the attention that it is getting from the scholars in the field of sports
psychology, the definition of the term mental toughness is still tacit ​(Nichols et al​., 2009). In the
research of Jones and colleagues (2007), they developed the definition and framework of mental
toughness. The definition and framework were derived from the perceptions of eight olympic
champions, three coaches, and four sports psychologists about mental toughness. A mentally
tough athlete was viewed as someone who has the psychological advantage over his opponent to
better cope with the demands -- competition, training, lifestyle -- of the sport, and be more
consistent in maintaining one’s determination, focus, confidence, and be in control under
pressure.
 The figure 1 is the illustration of the mental toughness framework developed by Jones
and colleagues (2007). Mental toughness was divided into four aspects -- attitude/mindset,
training, competition, and post-competition. This present paper will focus on linking the mental
toughness and anxiety felt of an athlete during a competition.

Figure 1. ​Mental toughness framework of Jones et al. (2007)

II. Methodology
III. Results
IV. Discussion
V. Conclusion

July ____, 2018

Dear Sir/Ma’am,

We are graduate school psychology students of De La Salle University - Manila. We are

currently working on a study about the the thoughts and feelings of someone who plays a sport
for recreation.
 In this light, we would like to ask for your participation by answering the attached
questionnaires. Please rest assured that all information that you will be giving to us are to be kept
confidential. And, it will only be used for the purpose of the study.
If you have concerns and questions about the study, we would be gladly to address these.
Our contact information are found bellow. Thank you and we are hoping for your participation.

Sincerely,

Raniel Lampitoc
Email

Victor Benedict Vienne Garcia

victor_garcia@dlsu.edu.ph