Author(s): ZHANG, S., ZHOU, Y., GIBSON, L., MCEWAN, K., Institution: UNIVERSITY OF DERBY, Country: UNITED KINGDOM, Abstract-ID: 667

Re-imagining self-compassion: A healthy, effective pathway to mental toughness and performance under pressure

Shuge Zhang1,2*, Yutao Zho2,3, Luke Gibson1, Kirsten McEwan4
1 School of Sport & Exercise Sciences, University of Derby, UK
2 Hunan Research Centre of Excellence in Fitness, Health & Performance, China
3 College of Physical Education, Hunan University of Technology, China
4 School of Psychology, University of Derby, UK

Background: Mental toughness is commonly used to describe an athlete who strives to excel and fulfil set goals despite challenges. It involves a collection of personal recourses such as self-efficacy and optimism and reflects the ability to maintain or enhance performance under high pressure. However, traditional mental toughness training has largely focused on enriching athletes’ personal resources such as mental skill use or enhancing threat detection and the ability to maintain high-level performance under pressure. Given the benefits of self-compassion in emotional regulation under difficult times in sport, in this project, we aimed to establish new evidence supporting the usefulness of a self-compassionate approach in fostering mental toughness in competitive athletes by taking a novel approach examining the interaction of athletes’ self-compassion and fears of compassion in mental toughness.

Methods: Among 281 competitive athletes from 24 sports (Study 1) and 253 professional footballers from 12 teams (Study 2), we examined the interaction between athletes’ self-compassion and fears of compassion on self-report (Studies 1 and 2) and coach informant rating of athletes’ mental toughness and ability to maintain high-level performance under pressure (Study 2).

Results: Multilevel (clustered) moderation analysis demonstrated a positive link between self-compassion and mental toughness (regardless of self-report or coach rating), of which the relationship was stronger when fears of compassion in sport were low, not high. The negative influence of low self-compassion on mental toughness levels was amplified greater when fear of self-compassion (compared to when fear of receiving compassion from others) was low. Such results were consistent in the multisport sample (Study 1) and the professional football sample (Study 2).

Conclusion: The findings provide the first quantitative evidence of the facilitative role of interaction between self-compassion and fears of compassion in athletes’ mental toughness. Incorporating self-compassion is not only a way to realise better mental well-being and enhanced morality in sport but also an effective strategy for performance enhancement. Sport organisations, coaches, and practitioners should consider incorporating a self-compassionate approach to developing athletes’ mental toughness.