A Qualitative Study on Influence Factors of Mental Toughness in Elite Chinese Athletes

Mental toughness is defined as the ability to consistently perform towards the upper range of your talent and skill regardless of competitive circumstances.The literature on mental toughness is characterized by ageneral lack of understanding the influence factors, as well as little is known beyond the obvious basics of what influences mental toughness in an elite Chinese athlete.The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence factors of mental toughness in elite Chinese athletes.Qualitative research methods were designed.The collecting data procedure consisted of two meetings of brain storming.Then based on Concept Mapping computing stages, we used multidimensional scaling, hierarchical cluster analysis, production of maps and interpreting the maps, from which the influencing factors of mental toughness emerged.Resultsshowed 37 different items played influencing effects on mental toughness, and 5dimensions emerged through the hierarchical cluster analysis.The names of dimensions were analyzed in a mental toughness influencing factors' framework by participants themselves.The map presented 37 items were clustered into 5dimensions, including team culture, social support, motor ability, coping strategy and stress hardy personality.These results indicate that the influence factors of Chinese elite athletes appeared consistent with those findings from the past research of overseas, with the exception of team culture dimension, which included the factors from team atmosphere and goals.