The ToughPerson Index: Conceptualizing and operationalizing mental toughness in sport as a social-cognitive...

The aim of this paper was to extend recent advancements to better define, conceptualize, and operationalize mental toughness in sport. The present study attempted to establish the Mentally Tough Personality in Sport Index (ToughPerson Index) as a new measure of mental toughness that is contextualized to competitive sport situations, informed by a synthesis of previous inductive approaches to conceptualize and identify common psychological attributes of mental toughness, and grounded in social-cognitive personality theory. NCAA Division I student-athletes (N = 609) completed the ToughPerson Index along with measures of hardiness, positive and negative affect, and dispositional flow. Confirmatory factor analyses produced a 23-item, non-hierarchical five-factor model (i.e., Tough Beliefs, Tough Attitudes, Tough Values, Tough Emotions, Tough Skills) with satisfactory model fit. Reliability analyses found the ToughPerson Index subscales to possess acceptable internal consistency and to be moderately stable over 8-month, 12-month, and 20-month intervals. Validity analyses provided initial construct validity evidence as the ToughPerson Index subscales related to measures of hardiness, affect, and dispositional flow in theoretically-predicted directions. These findings are consistent with recent conceptualizations of mental toughness as an enduring yet changeable psychological resource and support the operationalization of mental toughness within a social-cognitive view of personality.