Elite gamers share mental toughness with top athletes, study finds


Date:
June 11, 2020
Source:
Queensland University of Technology
Summary:
In one of the first studies to investigate mental toughness and
stress and coping in high performing esports athletes, researchers
have found similarities to traditional elite athletes.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
High performing esports professionals may require the same mental stamina
it takes to be a top Olympian, according to latest QUT research.


==========================================================================
A new study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, indicated an overlap
between the mental toughness and stress-coping processes in traditional
sports and competitive esports athletes.

* Competitive esports athletes appear to cope with stressors
similarly to
high-performing sports athletes
* esports players with higher ranks tended to have higher levels
of mental
toughness
* sports psychology interventions for high-performing sports
athletes may
also be beneficial to competitive esports athletes.

QUT esports researcher Dylan Poulus said 316 esports players aged 18
and over were studied from among the top 40 per cent of players.

"A disposition considered to be influential in sporting success is
mental toughness and it appears to be important for success in esports,"
Mr Poulus said.

"To be a millionaire esports gamer you deal with stress similar as if
you are getting ready to go to the Olympics.

"It is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and with the
coronavirus pandemic there has been huge interest." The study used
athletes who played Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rainbow
Six: Siege, Defence of the Ancients 2 and League of Legends competitively.



========================================================================== Events can draw more than 60 million online views.

Mr Poulus said the study identified some of the mental skills required
for optimal performance among gamers, including high levels of mental toughness, emotional control, and life control.

"Similar to traditional sports athletes, esports athletes with higher
mental toughness employed more problem-focused coping strategies which
aided in their success," he said.

However, the findings also showed how esports athletes with high mental toughness employed emotion-focused coping strategies like acceptance
coping.

"By accepting the elements of their game that are beyond their control
could lead to better performance," Mr Poulus said.



========================================================================== "Everything we see in sports psychology interventions that work with traditional sports is likely going to work with esports athletes."
Mr Poulus is completing his PhD at QUT's Faculty of Health school of
Exercise and Nutrition Sciences.

The research, titled Stress and Coping in Esports and the Influence of
Mental Toughness, was co-authored by Michael Trotter, Dr Tristan Coulter
and Professor Remco Polman.

This study was one of the first studies to investigate mental toughness
and stress and coping in performing esports athletes.

Further research is investigating what specifically causes stress to
high performing esports athletes.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Queensland_University_of_Technology. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Dylan Poulus, Tristan J. Coulter, Michael G. Trotter, Remco Polman.

Stress and Coping in Esports and the Influence of Mental Toughness.

Frontiers in Psychology, 2020; 11 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00628 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200611104801.htm

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