Do Age, Gender, and Match Experience Affect the Mental Toughness of Martial Art Athletes?

Abstract

Mental factor is one of the factors that should be prepared to achieve high performing athlete. In the athlete rehearsal preparation, mental toughness condition needs to be identified to keep the athletes fit when they have some difficulties in a match, feel the pressure during the match, and take behavior control, so that they will not get stressed easily. This study aims to find whether age, gender, and match experience affect the athlete’s mental toughness. The study was done to 174 (age = 19.69 ± 2.89) martial art athletes in Bekasi who were preparing themselves for a province/regional level match (PORPROV West Java 2022). Instrument of mental toughness refers to mental toughness dimension namely: control, commitment, challenge, and confidence. Data were analysed by using multiple logistic regression and cross tab. The result shows that mental toughness of martial art athletes was influenced by gender and match experience. Most of them are on the high level of mental toughness, and the majority is the men at the age of 19 to 22 who have experience in doing a national match. In addition, the relationship observed in this study emphasizes the need of coping and optimism training in mental toughness intervention.