Resilience and Emotional Reactions to Failure Mediated by Self-compassion and Emotion Regulation in Martial Artists

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Motor Behavior and Sports Psychology, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: The present study aimed to examine a proposed model for the relationship between resilience and emotional reactions to failure, mediated by self-compassion and Emotion Regulation (ER) among martial artists.
Materials and Methods: A total of 286 athletes (191 males & 95 females; Mean±SD age: 20.98±3.30 years) from different disciplines of martial arts (taekwondo, karate, Judo, & wushu) engaged in league championship participated in the study. Athletes completed the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). The proposed model was evaluated using structural equation modeling.
Results: The obtained results revealed that resilience has direct and indirect effects on emotional reactions to failure. Furthermore, self-compassion and maladaptive ER play a partial negative mediating role between resilience and emotional reactions to failure. However, the mediating role of adaptive ER was not significant.
Conclusion: The study data predicted negative emotional reactions to failure based on resilience, mediated by self-compassion and ER among martial artists; thus, these data indicate the necessity of paying attention to the development of resilience in martial artists. This method emphasizes self-compassion and the reduction of maladaptive ER for better recovery of failure and reduces its effects.

Keywords


  1. Davis IV H, Liotti M, Ngan ET, Woodward TS, Van Snellenberg JX, van Anders SM, et al. fMRI BOLD signal changes in elite swimmers while viewing videos of personal failure. Brain Imaging and Behavior. 2008; 2(2):84-93. [DOI:10.1007/s11682-007-9016-x]
  2. Juster RP, McEwen BS, Lupien SJ. Allostatic load biomarkers of chronic stress and impact on health and cognition. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2010; 35(1):2-16. [DOI:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2009.10.002] [PMID]
  3. Reis NA, Kowalski KC, Ferguson LJ, Sabiston CM, Sedgwick WA, Crockerc PRE. Self-compassion and women athletes’ responses to emotionally difficult sport situations: An evaluation of a brief induction. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2015; 16(Pt 3):18-25. [DOI:10.1016/j.psychsport.2014.08.011]
  4. Baillie PHF, Davis IV H, Ogilvie BC. Working with elite athletes. In: Van Raalte JL, Brewer JL, editors. Exploring Sport and Exercise Psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2014. pp. 401-425. [DOI:10.1037/14251-018]
  5. Hammond T, Gialloreto C, Kubas H, Hap Davis 4th H. The prevalence of failure-based depression among elite athletes. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 2013; 23(4):273-7. [DOI:10.1097/JSM.0b013e318287b870] [PMID]
  6. Ferguson LJ, Kowalski KC, Mack DE, Sabiston CM. Self-compassion and eudaimonic well-being during emotionally difficult times in sport. Journal of Happiness Studies. 2015; 16(5):1263-80. [DOI:10.1007/s10902-014-9558-8]
  7. Jones MV, Sheffield D. The impact of game outcome on the well-being of athletes. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 2007; 5(1):54-65. [DOI:10.1080/1612197X.2008.9671812]
  8. Brunstein J. Motivation and performance following failure: The effortful pursuit of self-defining goals. Applied Psychology. 2000; 49(3):340-56. [DOI:10.1111/1464-0597.00019]
  9. Lizmore MR, Dunn JGH, Dunn JC, Hill AP. Perfectionism and performance following failure in a competitive golf-putting task. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2019; 45:101582. [DOI:10.1016/j.psychsport.2019.101582]
  10. Seligman MEP, Nolen-Hoeksema S, Thornton N, Thornton KM. Explanatory style as a mechanism of disappointing athletic performance. Psychological Science. 1990; 1(2):143-6. [DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1990.tb00084.x]
  11. Ceccarelli LA, Giuliano RJ, Glazebrook CM, Strachan SM. Self-compassion and psycho-physiological recovery from recalled sport failure. Frontiers in Psychology. 2019; 10:1564. [DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01564] [PMID] [PMCID]
  12. Sagar SS, Busch BK, Jowett S. Success and failure, fear of failure, and coping responses of adolescent academy football players. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. 2010; 22(2):213-30. [DOI:10.1080/10413201003664962]
  13. Sutherland LM, Kowalski KC, Ferguson LJ, Sabiston CM, Sedgwick WA, Crocker PRE. Narratives of young women athletes’ experiences of emotional pain and self-compassion. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. 2014; 6(4):499-516. [DOI:10.1080/2159676X.2014.888587]
  14. Sagar SS, Lavallee D, Spray CM. Why young elite athletes fear failure: Consequences of failure. Journal of Sports Sciences, 2007; 25(11):1171-84. [DOI:10.1080/02640410601040093] [PMID]
  15. Tenenbaum G, Basevitch I, Gershgoren L, Filho E. Emotions-decision-making in sport: Theoretical conceptualization and experimental evidence. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 2013; 11(2):151-68. [DOI:10.1080/1612197X.2013.773687]
  16. Fletcher D, Sarkar M. A grounded theory of psychological resilience in Olympic champions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2012; 13(5):669-78. [DOI:10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.04.007]
  17. Lizmore MR, Dunn JG, Dunn JC. Perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, and reactions to poor personal performances among intercollegiate athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2017; 33:75-84. [DOI:10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.07.010]
  18. Gucciardi DF, Gordon S, Dimmock JA. Development and preliminary validation of a mental toughness inventory for Australian football. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2009; 10(1):201-9. [DOI:10.1016/j.psychsport.2008.07.011]
  19. Gucciardi DF, Hanton S, Gordon S, Mallett CJ, Temby P. The concept of mental toughness: Tests of dimensionality, nomological network, and traitness. Journal of Personality. 2015; 83(1):26-44. [DOI:10.1111/jopy.12079] [PMID]
  20. Jones G, Hanton S, Connaughton D. A framework of mental toughness in the world’s best performers. The Sport Psyc 2007; 21(2):243-64. [DOI:10.1123/tsp.21.2.243]
  21. Crust L. A review and conceptual re-examination of mental toughness: Implications for future researchers. Personality and Individual Differences. 2008; 45(7):576-83. [DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2008.07.005]
  22. Weinberg R, Butt J, Mellano K, Harmison R. The stability of mental toughness across situations: Taking a social-cognitive approach. International Journal of Sport Psychology. 2017; 48(3):280-302. [DOI:10.7352/IJSP.2017.48.280]
  23. Clough P, Earle K, Sewell D. Mental toughness: The concept and its measurement. Solutions in Sport Psychology. 2002; 32-43. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/nd_its_nt
  24. Cowden RG, Crust R, Joynt S, Hook J, Worthington Jr EL. How do mentally tough athletes overcome self-directed anger, shame, and criticism? A self-forgiveness mediation analysis. International Journal of Sport Psychology. 2018; 49(4):327-48. [DOI:10.7352/IJ2018.49.327]
  25. Mahoney JW, Gucciardi DF, Ntoumanis N, Mallett CJ. Mental toughness in sport: Motivational antecedents and associations with performance and psychological health. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 2014; 36(3):281-92. [DOI:10.1123/js2013-0260] [PMID]
  26. Wilson D, Bennett EV, Mosewich AD, Faulkner GE, Crocker PRE. The zipper effect: Exploring the interrelationship of mental toughness and self-compassion among Canadian elite women athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2019; 40:61- [DOI:10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.09.006]
  27. Neff K. Self-compassion: An alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself. Self and Identity. 2003. 2(2):85-101. [DOI:10.1080/15298860309032]
  28. Zhang JW, Chen S. Self-compassion promotes personal improvement from regret experiences via acceptance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2016; 42(2):244-58. [DOI:10.1177/0146167215623271] [PMID]
  29. Mohebi M, Sahar Z. [The relationship between mental toughness and self-compassion in elite and non-elite adolescent taekwondo athletes (Persian)]. Journal of Motor and Behavioral Sciences. 2019; 2(1):21-31. http://www.jmbs.ir/article_91801.html
  30. Crust L, Azadi K. Mental toughness and athletes’ use of psychological strategies. European Journal of Sport Sci 2010; 10(1):43-51. [DOI:10.1080/17461390903049972]
  31. Gross JJ. Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry. 2015; 26(1):1-26. [DOI:10.1080/1047840X.2014.940781]
  32. Garnefski N, Kraaij V. Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-development of a short 18-item version (CERQ-short). Personality and Individual Differences. 2006; 41(6):1045-53. [DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2006.04.010]
  33. Troy AS, Shallcross AJ, Mauss IB. A person-by-situation approach to emotion regulation: Cognitive reappraisal can either help or hurt, depending on the context. Psychological Science. 2013; 24(12):2505-14. [DOI:10.1177/0956797613496434] [PMID]
  34. Mohebi M, Zarei S, Sohbatiha M. [The relationship between Emotion regulation strategies and mental toughness in elite taekwondo athletes (Persian)]. Journal of Sport Psychology Studies. 2017; 6(21):29-42. [DOI:10.22089/SPSYJ.2017.2830.1294]
  35. Mutz J, Clough P, Papageorgiou KA. Do individual differences in emotion regulation mediate the relationship between mental toughness and symptoms of depression? Journal of Individual Differences. 2017; 38(2):71-82. [DOI:10.1027/1614-0001/a000224]
  36. Sheard M, Golby J, van Wersch A. Progress toward construct validation of the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ). European Journal of Psychological Assessment. 2009; 25(3):186-93. [DOI:10.1027/1015-5759.25.3.186]
  37. Nicholls A, Perry JL, Jones L, Sanctuary C, Carson F, Clough PJ. The mediating role of mental toughness in sport. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 2015; 55(7-8):824-34. [PMID]
  38. Nicholls AR, Polman RCJ, Levy AR, Backhouse SH. Mental toughness, optimism, pessimism, and coping among athletes. Personality and Individual Differences. 2008; 44(5):1182-9 [DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2007.11.011]
  39. Cowden RG. Mental toughness, emotional intelligence, and coping effectiveness: An analysis of construct interrelatedness among high-performing adolescent male athletes. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 2016; 123(3):737-53. [DOI:10.1177/0031512516666027] [PMID]
  40. Yang Q, Gu R, Tang P, Luo YJ. How does cognitive reappraisal affect the response to gains and losses? Psychophysiology. 2013; 50(11):1094-103. [DOI:10.1111/psyp.12091] [PMID]
  41. Jackman P, Crust L, Swann C. Further examining the relationship between mental toughness and dispositional flow in sport: A mediation analysis. International Journal of Sport Psychology. 2017; 48(3):356-74. [DOI:10.7352/IJSP.2017.48.356]
  42. Jin L, Wang CD. International students’ attachment and psychological well-being: The mediation role of mental toughness. Counselling Psychology Quarterly. 2018; 31(1):59-78. [DOI:10.1080/09515070.2016.1211510]
  43. Jones MI, Parker JK. Mindfulness mediates the relationship between mental toughness and pain catastrophizing in cyclists. European Journal of Sport Science. 2018; 18(6):872-81. [DOI:10.1080/17461391.2018.1478450] [PMID]
  44. Saby Y, Pupier Y, Guillet-Descas E, Nicolas M, Martinent G. Longitudinal emotional process among adolescent soccer player in intensive training Journal of Sports Sciences. 2020; 38(11-12):1368-79. [DOI:10.1080/02640414.2019.1662538] [PMID]
  45. Levy A, Nicholls A, Polman R. Cognitive appraisals in sport: The direct and moderating role of mental toughness. International Journal of Applied Psycho 2012; 2(4):71-6. [DOI:10.5923/j.ijap.20120204.05]
  46. Gucciardi DF. Mental toughness: progress and prospects. Current Opinion in Psychology. 2017; 16:17-23. [DOI:10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.03.010] [PMID]
  47. Diamantopoulos A, Siguaw JA, Siguaw JA. Introducing LISREL: A guide for the uninitiated. New York: SAGE Publications; 2000. https://books.google.com/books?id=8BYaAAAAYAAJ&dq
  48. Kashani V, Farokhi A, Kazemnejad A, Shaikh M. [Validity and reliability of the Persian version of Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ) (Persian)]. Motor Behavior. 2015; 7(20):49-72. https://mbj.ssrc.ac.ir/article_468.html?lang=en
  49. Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1988; 54(6):1063-70. [DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063] [PMID]
  50. Bakhshipour A, Dejkam M. [Confirmatory factor analysis of positive and negative emotion scales (Persian)]. Journal of Psychology. 2005; 36(4):351-67. https://www.sid.ir/fa/journal/ViewPaper.aspx?ID=49349
  51. Shokri O, Goodarzi A, Sharifi M. [Testing for factorial invariance of the Farsi version of the positive and negative affect schedule across sexes (Persian)]. Contemporary Psychology. 2014; 9(1):83-94. http://bjcp.ir/article-1-495-en.html
  52. Raes F, Pommier E, Neff KD, Van Gucht D. Construction and factorial validation of a short form of the self-compassion scale. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy. 2011; 18(3):250-5. [DOI:10.1002/cpp.702] [PMID]
  53. Khanjani S, Foroughi AA, Sadeghi K, Bahrainian SA. [Psychometric properties of Iranian version of self-compassion scale (short form) (Persian)]. Pajoohandeh. 2016; 21(5):282-9. http://pajoohansbmu.ac.ir/article-1-2292-en.html
  54. Besharat MA, Bazzazian S. [Psychometric properties of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in a sample of Iranian population (Persian)]. Advances in Nursing and Midwifery. 2014; 24(84):61-70. https://journals.sbmu.ac.ir/en-jnm/article/view/7360
  55. Crust L. The relationship between mental toughness and affect intensity. Personality and Individual Differences, 2009; 47(8):959-63. [DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2009.07.023]
  56. Sonstroem RJ, Harlow LL, Josephs L. Exercise and self-esteem: Validity of model expansion and exercise associations. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 1994; 16(1):29-42. [DOI:10.1123/jsep.16.1.29]
  57. Cleare S, Gumley A, O’Connor RC. Self-compassion, self-forgiveness, suicidal ideation, and self-harm: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy. 2019; 26(5):511-30. [DOI:10.1002/cpp.2372] [PMID]
  58. Mosewich AD, Sabiston CM, Kowalski KC, Gaudreau P, Crocker PRE. Self-compassion in the stress process in women athletes. Sport Psychologist. 2019; 33(1):23-34. [DOI:10.1123/tsp.2017-0094]
  59. Vast RL, Young RL, Thomas P Emotions in sport: Perceived effects on attention, concentration, and performance. Australian Psychologist. 2010; 45(2):132-40. [DOI:10.1080/00050060903261538]
  60. Mohebi M, Gharayagh Zandi A, Zarei S, Gharayagh Zandi H. Self-compassion and pre-competition anxiety among martial arts students. Journal of Exercise Science and Medicine. 2020; 11(2):97-104. https://jsmed.ut.ac.ir/article_77696.html
  61. Killham ME, Mosewich AD, Mack DE, Gunnell KE, Ferguson LJ. Women athletes’ self-compassion, self-criticism, and perceived sport performance. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. 2018; 7(3):297-307. [DOI:10.1037/spy0000127]
  62. Papageorgiou KA, Malanchini M, Denovan A, Clough PJ, Shakeshaft N, Schofield K, et al., Longitudinal associations between narcissism, mental toughness and school achievement. Personality and Individual Differences. 2018; 131:105-10. [DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2018.04.024]
  63. Campbell WK, Reeder GD, Sedikides C, Elliot AJ. Narcissism and comparative self-enhancement strategies. Journal of Research in Per 2000; 34(3):329-47. [DOI:10.1006/jrpe.2000.2282]
  64. Wolgast M, Lundh LG, Viborg G. Cognitive reappraisal and acceptance: An experimental comparison of two emotion regulation strategies. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2011; 49(12):858-66. [DOI:10.1016/j.brat.2011.09.011] [PMID]
  65. Sakakibara R, Endo T. Cognitive appraisal as a predictor of cognitive emotion regulation choice. Japanese Psychological Research. 2016; 58(2):175-85. [DOI:10.1111/jpr.12098]