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ABSTRACT
The paper study attempts to ascertain the importance of how sports benefit from being closely engaged with positive psychology. Further, relationship between Sports and positive psychology is explored i.e. understanding how two distinct disciplines work in tandem. The paper focuses on culmination of sports with positive psychology; moreover it enhances its scope from focussing anxiety, stress, burnout to developing a positive sports psychology that focuses more upon mindset, strengths, grit, mental toughness and resilience. Thus, this study is in a growing line of research that would help to better understand mind-body connection and how it may be possible to prevent what is wrong and focus on what is right.
Keywords: Mental toughness, grit, resilience, positive psychology
Sports is fundamental to the early development of children and youth and the skills learned during sports contribute to the holistic development as it enables to learn the imperativeness of key values such as honesty, teamwork, fair play, respect for themselves and others and adherence to the rules. Physical activity has been recently identified as the most important factor in reaching optimal functioning. Increased activity levels have been linked with improved cognitive functioning, better mood, lower incidence of mental illness and also increased life span. Tal Ben Shahar also suggests that not exercising is the equivalent to taking depressants.
A sports psychologist teaches mental skills for an enhanced performance and at times of poor emotional well-being, provides assistance as well. On the other hand, a positive psychologist, works in the health model with a goal of moving from whatever the starting point, beyond neutral and into the plus scale of wellbeing (as suggested by Narula in her book Happiness Quotient, 2016). Recent research in Positive Psychology has spawned a number of positive constructs that can be implemented in healthy populations to improve elements of their well-being, i.e. from exercises focused on positive emotions to improved performance through accomplishment level of competition. Thus, Positive psychology can be called as a part and parcel of psychology.
Thus, Positive psychology in sports has been defined as the science of happiness and strength (Carr, 2011). Therefore, the present research lays emphasis on the fact that sports can be an integral platform for developing positive psychology constructs such as mental toughness, grit...