Examining the Relationship Between Mental Toughness and Openness to Diversity

Abstract

The shift to a global knowledge economy includes transnational interactionswhich are dependent on innovation and the creation of new knowledge enabling organizations to remain competitive and provide new products and services to customers. Interacting with professionals from around the globe to innovate and create new knowledge necessitates an openness to diversity and an acceptance of different worldviews, especially in the manufacturing industry that is experiencing a fourth Industrial Revolution. A relatively recent concept of mental toughness may prove to be one of the key ingredients to support organizations in developing personal skills to ultimately cultivate an environment open to diversity. This study employed an exploratory correlational design to identify a potential relationship between mental toughness as measured by Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48 (MTQ48) and openness to diversity as measured by Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale-Short (M-GUDS- S), as well as a relationship of both variables and demographic variables of age, working unit, seniority level, gender, and race. Results indicated a significant positive correlation between overall mental toughness and overall openness to diversity. Additionally, a significant positive relationship was found between overall mental toughness and subscales of openness to diversity that of relativistic appreciation, comfort with differences, and diversity of contact; between overall openness to diversity and subscales of mental toughness that of challenge, commitment, control, control emotion, control life, confidence, confidence abilities, confidence interpersonal; and all subscales of mental toughness and subscales of openness to diversity with exception of control emotion. Furthermore, a significant difference was found in mental toughness in demographic variables of age, seniority level, gender, and working unit, and in openness to diversity in demographic variables of gender and race. The insights gained from this study resulted in the proposal of implementing mental toughness training focused on increasing openness to diversity within the manufacturing organization.