Mental Toughness is a combination of resilience, the curiosity and drive to grow yourself and the confidence in your own abilities and interactions with people.

Mental Toughness is closely related to qualities such as perseverance, resilience and grit, however, it is a broader concept. Many know resilience as being the ability to recover from setbacks. By its definition, resilience is reactive. Mental Toughness adds proactive attributes to resilience in seeking a challenge, change and finding opportunity with self-confidence. 

The difference between the two is sometimes described as; ‘resilience makes you survive, Mental Toughness makes you thrive’

Mental Toughness is not about acting tough, macho or uncaring. It is about showing strength,  toughness and confidence in seeking the opportunity to prevail, even when the odds are against you.

Why is it important?

Mental Toughness is important because Mentally Tough individuals are mentally and physically healthier and perform better. Mentally Tough individuals perform consistently under pressure and deal better with stress and challenges.

Research shows that mentally tough children perform up to 25% better in exams. They sleep better, show better attendance, are more engaged in the classroom and have higher aspirations. They transition better from junior to secondary education, perceive less bullying and are less likely to adopt anti-social behaviour. 

Mental Toughness: the Origins

The concept of Mental Toughness has been used in elite sport psychology for over 30 years to increase athlete performance. It was first defined in 1982 by performance psychologist Dr Jim Loehr as ‘the ability to consistently perform towards the upper range of your talent regardless of competitive circumstances’.

Loehr suggested that Mental Toughness was an essential quality which existed in the minds of winners and believed that it could be learned. Loehr worked with hundreds of elite athletes, many of whom became World Champions under his tutelage. However, mental toughness remained a sport-focused concept.

This changed after continuous research and publications from Professor Peter Clough, who holds the chair in applied Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University.  He defines Mental Toughness as ‘a personality trait which determines in large part, how people respond to challenge, stress and pressure, irrespective of their circumstances.’

Through his research, which builds further on concepts like resilience and hardiness, Clough found that there are four attributes to Mental Toughness. These are called the 4 Cs. In 2002, Clough published the world’s first valid and reliable survey to measure Mental Toughness, the MTQ48. This is a 48 questions psychometric survey that measures Mental Toughness across the four Cs on an individual or group level. 

Clough’s work brought Mental Toughness from a concept for elite sporters to something applicable to every individual or any industry.