An Examination of Psychological Differences between Elite, College, and High School Female Soccer Players

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the psychological differences between elite, college, and high school female soccer players. The six personality traits that were measured included competitive trait anxiety, trait self-confidence, concentration skills, mental preparation skills, achievement motivation levels, and leadership skills. Three self-evaluation questionnaires were administered to the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (elite), the State University of New York at Brockport and Nazareth College women's soccer teams (college), and Brockport, Livonia, and Marcellus high school soccer teams. The three questionnaires included the Sport Competitive Anxiety Test (SCAT; Martens, Burton, and Vealey, 1990), the Trait Sport-Confidence Inventory (TSCI; Vealey, 1986), and the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ; Smith, 1994). In order to determine if the three groups differed in the psychological variables of competitive trait anxiety, trait self-confidence, concentration skills, mental preparation skills, achievement motivation levels, and leadership skills, a one-way MANOVA was conducted. The overall multivariate relationship was significant (Wilks' lambda = .564, F (10, 144) = 4.77 p < .001. Follow up analyses revealed that competitive trait anxiety, trait self-confidence, mental preparation skills, and leadership skills differentiated the three groups. Specifically using Student-Newman-Keuls it was found that the college group exhibited the highest levels of competitive trait anxiety and leadership skills. The elite group differed from the other two by having the highest scores in trait self-confidence, and mental preparation skills. No significant differences were found between the three groups in concentration skills or achievement motivation levels.