THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL TOUGHNESS AND COMPETITION ANXIETY AMONG FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF DHANAMANJURI UNIVERSITY, MANIPUR
Abstract
One essential psychological quality that allows football players to perform at
their peak even under extreme strain is mental toughness. Mental toughness is a
significant psychological concept that has been linked to competitive anxiety. The current
study wanted to determine how competition anxiety and mental toughness related to
Dhanamanjuri University football players who had competed in the All-India Inter
University Tournament in 2024–2025. Twenty-two (n=22) football players from
Dhanamanjuri University in Manipur were purposively chosen for this study. Mental
toughness was assessed using the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMQT-14),
created by Sheard, Golby, and Wersch in 2009, and competition anxiety was assessed
using the Sports Competition Anxiety Test, developed by Martins et al. in 1977. Pearson
Correlation test was employed to determine the relationship between sports mental
toughness and sports competition anxiety. The result showed that Dhanamanjuri
University football players, mental toughness and competition anxiety were negatively
correlated and showed no statistically significant level (p-value > 0.66). The data revealed
no statistically significant relationship between the players' mental toughness and
competition anxiety. Enhancing mental toughness may assist in lessening anxiety and
boost performance in sporting events, as these studies indicate that mental toughness is
often linked to reduced levels of competitive anxiety among football players.
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