Determination of relation between the mental toughness and of the self-efficacy levels of athletes

The purpose of study is investigating the relationship between athletes' mental toughness levels and self-efficacy levels. 315 athletes (71 women, 244 men) participated in this study voluntarily ( X Age = 24.93 ± 3.41). In this research, information about socio-demographic variables was collected by the Personal Information Chart which was created by the researcher. To achieve the purpase of the study, Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire which was developed by Sheard, Golby and Van Wersch (2009) and adapted to Turkish language by Altıntaş (2015); and Self-Efficacy Scale, which was developed by Riggs, Warka, Babasa, Betancourt and Hooker (1994) and adapted to Turkish language by Öcel (2002) were used. In analysis of the data about the comparison of two groups independent samples t-test and Mann Whitney-U test is used, which is determined by whether distribution of data or the groups are balanced. Comparison of the groups which consists of more than two groups are conducted by One way Analysis of variance (Anova) or Kruskall Wallis H Test. According to the results of Kruskall Wallis H Test, Mann Whitney-U test with the Bonferroni-correction is used, when needed. The relation between total points of both mental toughness and self-efficacy were assessed by the Rho factor of Spearman. Statistics are generated by SPSS Pack 22 and p<0.05 is used as the significancy level. As a result of this research; there detected an moderate positive correlation between mental toughness and self-efficacy levels of athletes. On the other hand mental toughness and self-efficacy levels are differentiated by the sport age. Also, mental toughness levels vary according to age and education level. Key Words: Athletes, Mental Toughness, Self-Efficacy