Development and preliminary validation of the Cricket Mental Toughness Inventory (CMTI)

• Published in: Journal of sports sciences Vol. 27; no. 12; pp. 1293 - 1310
• Main Authors: Gucciardi, Daniel F., Gordon, Sandy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01.10.2009; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Athletes; Athletes - psychology; Athletic Performance - psychology; Attention; Australia; Biological and medical sciences; burnout; Burnout, Professional; Cognition & reasoning; Competitive Behavior; Cricket; flow; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; hardiness; Humans; India; Intelligence; Interviews as Topic; Male; Motivation; Multi-method research; Personality Inventory; Psychological tests; Psychometrics - methods; questionnaire development; resilience; Self Efficacy; Sports - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports; Australia; India; Human; Validation; Questionnaire; questionnaire development; Occupational burnout; Resilience; hardiness; Cricket; Sport; Development; burnout; Multi-method research; flow
• ISSN: 0264-0414; 1466-447X
• DOI: 10.1080/02640410903242306

The purpose of this research project was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of mental toughness in cricket, using a multi-method research design. Two qualitative studies in which current and former cricketers' (n = 16) perceptions of the key components of mental toughness in cricket and the suitability of an item pool to target those key components (n = 9) were assessed. We then conducted two quantitative studies to examine both the within- and between-network properties of the Cricket Mental Toughness Inventory (CMTI) using confirmatory factor analysis and correlations. Support for the existence of a five-factor, 15-item model was revealed with three independent samples of cricketers; two contained cricketers from several different countries (n = 285 and 285), whereas one contained Australian cricketers only (n = 433). Each of the five subscales (affective intelligence, attentional control, resilience, self-belief, and desire to achieve) were positively correlated with dispositional flow, hardiness, and resilience and negatively correlated with athlete burnout. Although requiring replication and extension, the results of the present study provide preliminary support for the factor structure, internal reliability, and construct validity of the CMTI.