PERSONALITY AND SPORTS

Personality:
Personality is difficult to define due to its complex nature; however one definition in the literature is ‘the
characterisation of individual differences.’ The fact that everyone is different is extremely important when
it comes to sport and coaching. As a coach it is essential that you understand the personality of your athlete
in order to optimise the transmission of your message and their subsequent performance; as an athlete it is
important you understand the significance of personality and its potential effect on performance.
Theories of Personality: The study of personality has a broad and varied history in psychology with an
abundance of theoretical traditions. The major theories include: 

• Psychodynamic
• Behavioral theory of personality
• Trait Theories
• Phenomenological theory of personality

Psychodynamic Theory: Psychodynamic theories of personality are heavily influenced by the work
of Sigmund Freud, and emphasize the influence of the unconscious mind and childhood experiences on
personality. Freud believed the three components of personality were the id, the ego, and the superego.
The id is responsible for all needs and urges, while the superego for ideals and moral. The ego moderates
between the demands of the id, the superego, and reality.

Behavioural theory of Personality:

The behaviourist approach views personality as a pattern of learned behaviours acquired through either
classical or operant conditioning and shaped by reinforcement in the form of rewards or punishment. A
relatively recent extension of behaviorism, the cognitive-behavioural approach emphasizes the
role cognition plays in the learning process. Cognitive and social learning theorists focus not only on the
outward behaviours people demonstrate but also on their expectations and their thoughts about others,
themselves, and their own behaviour. Another characteristic that sets the cognitive-behavioural approach
apart from traditional forms of behaviourism is its focus on learning that takes place in social situations
through observation and reinforcement, which contrasts with the dependence of classical and operant
conditioning models on laboratory research.

Trait Theory: In psychology, trait theory (also called dispositional theory) is an approach to the study of

human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of traits, which can be
defined as habitual patterns of behaviour, thought, and emotion. Eyseneck’s three dimension of
personality:
 Introversion/Extraversion: Introversion involves directing attention on inner experiences,
while extraversion relates to focusing attention outward on other people and the environment. So,
a person high in introversion might be quiet and reserved, while an individual high in extraversion
might be sociable and outgoing.
 Neuroticism/Emotional Stability: This dimension of Eysenck’s trait theory is related to moodiness
versus even-temperedness. Neuroticism refers to an individual’s tendency to become upset or
emotional, while stability refers to the tendency to remain emotionally constant.
 Psychoticism: Later, after studying individuals suffering from mental illness, Eysenck added a
personality dimension he called psychoticism to his trait theory. Individuals who are high on this
trait tend to have difficulty dealing with reality and may be antisocial, hostile, non-empathetic and
manipulative.

Phenomenological theory of personality: According to the Phenomenological approach to personality, the

specific ways each person perceives and interprets the world make up personality and guide behaviour
Phenomenological theorists emphasize that each person actively constructs her or his own world. The
primary human motivation is the innate drive toward growth that prompts people to fulfil their unique and
natural potential people are inclined toward goodness, creativity, love, and joy. People's view of reality is
important in guiding their behaviour the perspective is shaped by learned expectations these expectations
form personal constructs which are generalized ways of anticipating the world. The nature of each person's
unique constructs determines personality and influences behaviour.

Personality profiles of Athletes: Despite popular opinion, no distinguishable “athletic personality” has been
shown to exist. That is, no consistent research findings show that athletes possess a general personality
type distinct from the personality of non-athletes. Research has identified several differences in personality
characteristics between successful and unsuccessful athletes. These differences, however, are not based on
innate, deeply ingrained personality traits but rather result from more effective thinking and responding in
relation to sport challenges as well as higher levels of motivation. Specifically, successful athletes,
compared with less successful athletes, are.
 more self-confident,
 better able to cope well with stress and distractions,
 better able to control emotions and remain appropriately activated,
 better at attention focusing and refocusing,
 better able to view anxiety as beneficial, and
 more highly determined and committed to excellence in their sport.
Olympic and World champion athletes have defined mental toughness as the natural or developed
psychological edge that enables you to cope with competitive demands and remain determined, focused,
confident, and in control under pressure. These athletes identify the following as critical personality
responses that represent mental toughness: loving the pressure of competition, adapting to and coping
with distractions and sudden changes, channelling anxiety, not being fazed by mistakes in the process,
being acutely aware of any inappropriate thoughts and feelings and changing them immediately to perform
optimally when needed, using failure to drive yourself, learning from failure, and knowing how to rationally
handle success—an impressive list of qualities that we all would like to have as part of a mentally tough
personality.
Personality and Exercise: Exercisers cannot be differentiated from none-exercisers based on an overall
personality type. Two personality characteristics, however, are strong predictors of exercise behavior.
Individuals who are more confident in their physical abilities tend to exercise more than those who are less
physically confident. A second important predictor of exercise behaviour, obviously, is self-motivation, with
self-motivated individuals beginning and continuing exercise programs and less motivated individuals
dropping out or never starting at all. Many people also associate exercise with changes in mood and
anxiety. Most individuals say that they “feel better” or “feel good” after vigorous exercise, which
emphasizes the important link between physical activity and psychological well-being. In addition, research
documents that anxiety and tension decline following acute physical activity. The greatest reductions in
anxiety occur in exercise programs that continue for more than 15 weeks. Much research has been
conducted to determine whether exercise or fitness reduces people’s susceptibility to stress, and the
generally accepted conclusion is that aerobically fit individuals demonstrate a reduced psychosocial stress
response.

Measuring of Personality: Personality determines a number of important characteristics and behaviours,

including how people interact with others, what motivates them, and what they value. Our personality
measures are among the most widely cited, highly regarded, and innovative assessments of normal-range
personality. For use with normal and clinical populations, these measures are also used in a variety of
settings, from career planning and marital counselling to leadership development and employment
selection. Measuring and assessing individual personality traits may be useful in identifying and predicting
future sporting talent from a young age. There are questions over validity and reliability as well as the time
consuming and expensive nature of such testing. The following are methods by which personality can be
measured Interview, Questionnaire and observation. Interview and questionnaires have low chance of
cheating by answering questions in such a way as to influence the outcomes. During observation the
individual must be aware of the process as observation in secret are unethical. This however leaves the
testing open to change in the individuals behaviours as a result of being watched.