TITLE:
A Systems-Approach Model of Mental Toughness: Understanding Inputs, Processes and Outputs
AUTHORS:
Sarah Sorensen, Grant Schofield, Aaron Jarden
KEYWORDS:
Mental Toughness, Stress, Positive Psychology, Systems-Approach Model, Definition
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.7 No.12,
November
3,
2016
ABSTRACT: Despite
its rising prominence in the academic literature, the underlying inputs,
processes and outputs of mental toughness remain relatively unexplored (Hardy,
Bell, & Beattie, 2014). As such, the purpose of the study is to present a
systems-approach model of mental toughness that classifies attributes of
mental toughness within the aggregated system of inputs, processes and outputs.
To this end, lay participants (n =
138) were requested to provide a list of attributes of mental toughness in the
form of a written questionnaire. Following guidelines for conducing Deductive
Thematic Analysis (DTA) by Braun and Clarke (2006), and on the basis of similar
frameworks by Hagerty et al. (2001) and Jayawickreme, Seligman and Foregard
(2012), data were thematically analyzed and organized into inputs, processes
and outputs. The resultant systems-approach model included a number of inputs
(personal resources, stressors), processes (strength, accommodation) and
outputs (surviving, striving, thriving) of mental toughness. Based on these
findings, mental toughness was subsequently defined as a resistance to psychological disintegration under stress. As this
model advances current theoretical knowledge, implications for future conceptualization,
measurement and development of mental toughness are discussed.