Mental toughness and perfectionism in judo: Differences by achievement and age. The relation between constructs

Abstract

Background & Study Aim: The relationship between mental toughness (MT) and perfectionism has not been established to date. The main aim of this study is: knowledge about MT, perfectionistic strivings, and perfectionistic concerns of judo athletes by achievement level and age; relationship between MT and perfectionism dimensions. Material & Methods: A total of 118 judokas (24 females) aged between 16 and 69 years (mean age = 28.73 ±13.96) were divided into sub-elite (national medallists), elite and veterans (both international medallists). The Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ) was used to measure MT. Following Gotwals and Stoeber’s guidelines, perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns were measured by using different subscales from two questionnaires. Results: Veterans scored higher than elite and sub-elite athletes on MT (F(2,115)= 14.59; p<0.001; η2p = 0.20), showing that MT is age-dependent but does not seem to discriminate between judokas exceeding a certain competitive-level threshold. Perfectionistic strivings global scores only differed between veterans and sub-elite groups (F(2,115)= 7.08; p = 0.001; η2p = 0.11), specific analyses of the personal standards subscale showed that veterans and elite athletes scored higher than sub-elites, whereas on the strivings for perfection subscale, veterans scored higher than both elite and sub-elite athletes. Linear regression models showed that MT is positively associated with perfectionistic strivings (B = 0.39; SE B = 0.05; p<0.001), and negatively associated with perfectionistic concerns (B = -0.25; SE B = 0.04; p<0.001). Conclusions: These results seem to indicate that some perfectionism characteristics could be trainable. Future studies could determine how MT improvements impact on perfectionism dimensions.