The Effect of Mental Toughness of Individuals Doing Outdoor Sports on their Decision-Making Skills

Abstract

This study intends to examine the impact of the mental toughness of athletes doing outdoor sports on their decision-makingskills. The study population is composed of 504 athletes doing outdoor sports in various disciplines in Turkey in 2017. Themental toughness in sports scale developed by Sheard et al. (29) and adapted to Turkish by Altıntaş and Bayar Koruç (1) andthe Melbourne Decision Making Scale I-II Scale developed by Mann et al. (35) and adapted to Turkish by Deniz (11) were used.The Independent Samples T test was used to analyze the data obtained as well as the One Way Analysis of Variance (One WayAnova) used in case of the existence of more than two groups and the correlation analysis for the relationship between the twogroups. As a result, significant differences were found by the variables gender, marital status, age, educational status, the typeof outdoor sports engaged in and experience. Accordingly, mental toughness has effects on decision-making skills when doingoutdoor sports. There is a low level of positive correlation between mental toughness and decision-making skills. It is thoughtthat the seasons and the types of outdoor sports done have an impact on these result.