Comparative analysis of fear of failure, use of self-talk, and mental toughness attributes between junior-level male and female hockey players from various training centers of sports authority of India

Abstract

The study compared between junior male and female hockey players from SAI with average age of 17.15 years ± 1.6 SD, on variables of Mental Touhgness (MT), Positive Self-Talk (PST), Negative Self-Talk (NST), Fear of Failure (FoF), and also dived into comparing the 4Cs (Control, Challenge, Commitment, and Confidence) of MT. MANOVA was used for comparison where girls showed higher use of PST and boys showed higher overall MT. Further examination of correlations between PST/NST with MT was performed between genders revealing strong correlation in the boys group between PST and Commitment. At the end the analysis of Moderation Multiple Regression (MMR) Model Summaries showed that gender significantly moderated the relationship between both PST/NST and Commitment (MTcm).