Comparison of Competitive Aggressiveness and Anger and Mental Toughness of Iranian Male and Female Elite Track and Field Athletes

The present study aimed at comparing competitive aggressiveness and anger and mental toughness of Iranian male and female elite track and field athletes.

The current study was a causal-comparative one. The participants of the study were the total number of Iranian elite track and field athletes who were members of the national team in 2020. For this reason, the statistical sample was 100 elite track and field athletes (18 to 30 years old) with an average age of (23.26 ± 4.120) using available sampling (50 females). To measure competitive aggressiveness and anger Competitive Aggressiveness and Anger Scale (CAAS) of Maxwell & Moores has been applied, and Sheard, Golby et al.’s Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ) has been used to measure mental toughness. The collected data has been analyzed by means of Mann–Whitney U test.

The results of the study revealed a significant difference between male and female track and field athletes in the overall score of mental toughness and its subscale of constancy as well as the overall score of competitive aggressiveness and anger and its anger component. However, there was no significant difference between male and female athletes in the components of confidence and control of the mental toughness variable and aggressiveness subscale of the competitive aggressiveness and anger (p