Relationship Between the Mental Toughness, Self-Efficacy and Decision Making in Wrestling Referees

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study is to examine the relationship between mental toughness, self-efficacy and decision making in wrestling referees. The research is a descriptive and relational design research conducted with survey method. The sample group of the study consisted of a total of 130 wrestling referees, 109 of whom were male and 21 of whom were female, with an average age of 36.22±10.05, who were actively working in the Turkish Wrestling Federation. The data in the study were obtained by using Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire-SMTQ, Melbourne Decision-Making Inventory-II (MDMSI-II) and Referee Self-Efficacy Scale (REFS). The datas were analyzed using t test and ANOVA test and Pearson correlation analysis from parametric test methods. As a result of the research, it was found that there were positive significant relationships between SMTQ and REFS, positive significant relationships between SMTQ and careful decision-making among the sub-dimensions of MDMSI, negative significant relationships between REFS and careful decision-making style among the sub-dimensions of MDMSI, positive significant relationships between Buck-passing decision-making style, procrastinatory decision-making style and Hypervigilance decision-making style. It was found that there was a significant positive relationship between the refereeing year variable and the total scores of the SMTQ, a positive relationship between the game knowledge sub-dimension of the REFS sub-dimensions, and a negative relationship between all sub-dimensions of the MDMSI. According to the refereeing category variable, it was determined that there was no statistically significant difference in the overall averages of SMTQ and REFS, while there was a statistically significant difference in MDMSI; Buck-passing, Procrastination and Hypervigilance decision-making styles. This study can reveal which strategies can be applied to improve referees' decision-making processes or to improve their training programmes.Keywords: Decision Making, Mental Toughness, Self-Efficacy, Wrestling Referees