Examination of Mental Toughness and Emotional Intelligence to the Turkish and American Professional Basketball Players

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mental toughness (MT) and emotional intelligence (EI) of Turkish and American professional basketball players in Turkish Professional Leagues. The population target was 156 participants (x ̄ age=24,35±5,48) from Turkey, and 42 participants (x ̄ age =27,69±3,15) from the USA - a total of 198 professional basketball player from 17 teams. Participants completed "Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ)" developed by Scheard et al. (2009) and "Emotional Intelligence Scale for use in Sport (EISS)" developed by Lane et al. (2009). One-Way ANOVA test was utilized in order to examine the influence of an independent variable (citizenship) on dependent variables. The relation between emotional intelligence (EI) and mental toughness (MT) was analyzed through Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient technic (p <0.05). According to the results, significant differences were observed between citizenship variable in terms of EI and MT. In addition, a linear positive correlation was found while examining the relationship between the EI and MT subscales, EI social skills subscales and the MT constancy subscales. As a result of research, Turkish athletes have a higher social skills score in terms of citizenship variables, while American players have a better score in appraisal of others' emotions. In addition, American citizens showed higher mean in terms of constancy and control subscales. The results also showed that the increase in MT constancy subscale scores causes the increase in EI social skills