The dark side of mental toughness: Subcultural imperatives that harm Stephanie J. Tibbert1, Mark B. Andersen2, and Tony Morris3 School of Exercise Science, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia1 Halmstad University, Sweden2 Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia3 Introduction The concept of mental toughness (MT) is generally associated with success and overcoming great difficulties while demonstrating dogged perseverance regardless of adversity (Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2009). Limited research has emerged, although there have been suggestions in the literature (Andersen, 2011; Crust, 2007; Gucciardi et al., 2009), regarding potential detriments in being mentally tough. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of coaches’, senior players’, and rookies’ understanding of how MT may help or hinder successful performance in Australian football. Methods Participants: The sample comprised three coaches, four senior players, and four first- or second-year players from the Australian Football League. Design: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted (duration ranged from 60 to 90 mins). Participants were encouraged to tell their story of MT, which encompassed both helpful and detrimental aspects of the construct. Analysis: Key concepts from the published literature served as organising codes for deductive content analysis, inductive content analysis was used with unique codes. Results Players and coaches identified the following expectations and behaviours as being mentally tough in their subculture: Silencing emotions Sacrificing identity Playing injured Hiding pain He [player] all of a sudden couldn’t cope with any training, stopped training, noticeably lost weight in 7 days, and was throwing up in training. He had broken up with his girlfriend. His whole world had fallen apart. He had no one he could talk to about it, but he needed to learn to leave that bit of life alone and get on with footy. [The coach told the player] I don’t want to know if you have broken up with your girlfriend. I’m not here for that. I’m here to teach you how to be a footballer, and if you can’t suck it up then how are you going to be successful? When you get injured, you just cop it sweet. There’s nothing you can do about it. We break down all the time … training all day, every day; it’s insane. You break your leg, you break your arm, you rupture a disc in your back, [and] you just have to cop it . . . Each player knows their place in the team. They know the team is more important than the individual. We [coaches and senior players] tell new players all the time don’t overrate your own self-importance and your influence. If you wanna make it in football: eat it, sleep it, breathe it. Everything else stops. There’s pressure from the coach [to play], especially if you’re a regular player. If you’ve got an injury but you can keep playing, [even] though it might cause damage later on, it is hard for the coach to see any other way. Copyright Colin Purrington (http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign). Discussion MT appeared pathogenic for individuals who struggled to fit into the subculturally determined mould. Although positive attributes of mental toughness emerged, one concerning issue with the data was that players and coaches believed mental toughness to be similar to attributes, attitudes, and behaviours that Richardson, Andersen, and Morris (2008) identified as risk factors for overuse injuries and overtraining. Mental toughness did not seem so much something that footballers had naturally as internal characteristics, but rather as subcultural ideals and imperatives. Players needed to emulate these models, or they would not last in the sport. Future researchers could consider investigating the subcultural norms, ideals, and demands of teams for mentally tough athletes and how those cultural imperatives become internalised through peer pressures, indoctrination, and deep desires to fit in and belong. References Andersen, M. B. (2011). Who’s mental, who’s tough and who’s both? Mutton constructs dressed up as lamb. In D. F. Gucciardi & S. Gordon (Eds.), Mental toughness in sport: Developments in theory and research. (pp. 69 - 88). London, England: Routledge. Crust, L. (2007). Mental toughness in sport: A review. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 5, 270-290. Gucciardi, D. F., Gordon, S., Dimmock, J. A., & Mallett, C. J. (2009). Understanding the coach’s role in the development of mental toughness: Perspectives of elite Australian football coaches. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27, 1483–1496. Richardson, S. O., Andersen, M. B., & Morris, T. (2008). Overtraining athletes: Personal journeys in sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.