ATTITUDE TOWARDS SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY AND MENTAL TOUGHNESS IN YOUNG STUDENT ATHLETE REPRESENTATIVES OF THAILAND

Abstract

The purposes of this research were to study and contrast the attitudes toward sports psychology and mental toughness in young student athletes representing of Thailand. Method: Subjects in this study were from 110 young student athletes representating of Thailand and were aged between 10 - 18 years old (Male = 54, Female = 56). The athletes who participated in this study consisted of track and field, basketball, table tennis, badminton, sepak takraw, swimming, gymnastic, and volleyball. Instruments and procedure: All subjects completed the sport psychology attitude – revised and the psychological performance inventory. The sport psychology attitude – revised consisted of 21 items in 3 dimensions; stigma tolerance, confidence in sport psychology consulting, and openness in sport psychology consulting. The Psychological Performance Inventory consisted of 42 items from 7 dimensions; self-confidence, negative energy control, attention control, visualization and imagery control, positive energy, motivation, and attitude control. Statistics: Data were analyzed using the mean, standard deviation, percentage, t-test independent, and cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Significance was tested at the 0.05 level. Result: The results showed that the attitude towards sports psychology in stigma tolerance, confidence in sport psychology consulting and openness in sport psychology consulting were not significant at 0.05. The mental toughness in negative energy control, positive energy, and attitude control were significant at 0.05. These finding suggest the process of consultation with the athlete must be a method to encourage athletes to know what they are confident about sport psychology consulting. Second, the athlete must trust from the psychology consulting accurate and perceived is sufficient to help through the peak performance in sport. This includes psychological preparation by choosing a sports psychology skills to develop a mental toughness to be appropriate for both male and female athletes.
(Journal of Sports Science and Technology 2014;14(1): 203 -212)
KEYWORDS: Attitude, Mental toughness, Sport psychology, Youth athletes