PERSONALITY & SPORTS PERFORMANCE.   Term Paper ID:16896 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Relationship between individual's unique personal & behavioral dispositions & his success in sports. Paper Introduction: This paper will review literature, which has investigated the relationship between personality and sports performance. Primarily, the discussion will center around the issue of introversion and player position. An experiment will be proposed which will attempt to describe the possible differences between offensive and defensive positions and introversion. Personality and Sports Performance Studies The growing knowledge about aptitude, abilities, and skills has just begun to explain performance differences, in terms of depending to some extent on the individual’s unique and personal and behavioral dispositions. Such dispositions that an individual brings to a performance are not fully understood, neither as to the nature of the predisposition nor as to the predictive value. This is not surprising, given that the field Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Several studies of groups, such as cyclistsand bodybuilders, report differences among athletes in terms ofintroversion, tension, confusion, depression, and anger. Sixteen personality factor profiles of collegiate wrestlers. ExperimentHypothesis There will be no difference between the offensive and defensiveplayers of any of the team sports (basketball, football, and soccer) on theEPQ.Subjects The subjects for the study will be 5 football, 5 basketball, and 5 soccer players. In a similar study, Kirkcaldy (1982) administered the EysenckPersonality Questionnaire (EPQ) to team-sport athletes and individual-sportathletes and found no significant differences. Personality characteristic of wrestlers. Half of each of these team sport groups will be defensiveplayers, and the other half will be offensive players. Itwas found that the second-order personality dimension, introversion-extroversion, was related to grip strength and predicted maximum oxygenuptake but not to body fatness. (1987). Some personality characteristics of the super-adherer: Following those who go beyond. Type A behavior pattern in varsity athletes. Athletes and competition for girls and women. (1964). They are likely to be conventional, well-dressed, outgoing. Using the Personality Research Form, Clingman and Hilliard (1987)examined certain general personality characteristics of 29 adult enduranceathletes who were participants in either a swimming meet, a bicycle race, arunning race, or a triathlon. The normal-neurotic dimensionreferred to the general adjustment of people to their circumstances and thestability of their behavior over time. (1972). Personality and selected women athletes. The test will be administered to groups of 5-7subjects at a time. Kroll (Ed.), Psychological aspects of wrestling (n.p.). Professional cowboys were also found tobe alert, enthusiastic, and forthright, as well as reality-based, self-sufficient, and practical. A study by Howard, Cunningham, and Rechnitzer (1987) usedlongitudinal data to determine the effects of personality on the naturaldecline in fitness in 121 middle-aged men. (1971). This paper will review literature, which has investigated therelationship between personality and sports performance. There were a number of reasons offered to explain why extrovertsshowed a smaller decline in fitness with age. The particular position the subject is playing in theteam sport will be requested as well as other demographic data, i.e. Pearson'scorrelations revealed that 15 body-image items were strongly related topsychological well-being for athletes, while 2 items were significantlyrelated to the same variable for non-athletes. This also results in a greaterlikelihood of participating in competitive situations and a greater feelingof discomfort with exercise deprivation. The physical education literature dealing with personality factorsand their effects on performance is heavy with implied and stated linksbetween personality development and involvement in appropriately conductedprograms of planned physical activity, games, dance, and sport. Although the conclusions reached by the various studies are notunequivocal, there is a tendency for the male athletes to be described interms of extroversion and stable disposition. Quest, 14, 18-27.Malumphy, T. They tend to chooseoccupations such as sales or promotional work, in which they deal withpeople rather than things. (1987). (1967). (1958). In addition, because stimulation is oftengiven by other people, extroverts may well be more likely to seek out gameplaying activities with others. Journal of Sport Behavior, 1 (3), 123-136.Colley, A., Roberts, N., & Chipps, A. An experiment will be proposed which will attempt to describethe possible differences between offensive and defensive positions andintroversion. Multivariate analysisrevealed significant differences as a function of sport and gender.However, striking similarities occurred in the personality pattern acrossboth sport and gender. Ratliff, W., & Moss, R. The result is thata number of alternative models and approaches have been proposed in aneffort to formulate a more vital and dynamic concept of personalitysensitive to situational factors in behavior. Colley, Roberts, and Chipps (1985) compared individual and teamsports using a variety of measures including the EPQ. (1982). International Journal of Sport Psychology, 17 (2), 11 -119.Eby, E., & Van Gyn, G. Eysenck claimed thatthere were just two fundamental trait dimensions of personality: normal-neurotic and introversion-extroversion. If the results turn out to besignificant, then the ability to assign players to offensive or defensivepositions to maximize their ability will be discussed. Furthermore, methodological inconsistencies make it impossible togeneralize the results of the studies. In addition, during the 5-year period,those classified as introverts at baseline showed a 12 percent decline inpredicted maximum oxygen uptake, while the extroverts showed only a 2percent decline. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 13 (3), 141-153.Kroll, W. London: Arnold.Kirkcaldy, B. (1976). This is not surprising, given that the field ofpersonality trait theories within psychology is a complex and imprecisescience. Research Design Offensive DefensiveBasketballSoccerFootballInstruments The EPQ will be used as the dependent measure. While these characteristicsare consistent with fencers, ice hockey players, and racecar drivers, thelacrosse players were also more happy-go-lucky and tough-minded. Philadelphia: American College of Sports Medicine.Kane, J. Journal of Sport Behavior, 1 (2), 73-81.Fuchs, C., & Zaichowsky, L. Subjects were found to report positive lifesatisfaction and an internal attributional style; they also reportedrelatively high levels of stress. The athletes as a group differed from thegeneral population on all seven selected PRF scales. Research Quarterly, 35, 539-545. Theresults revealed that 72 percent of the athletes were classified as Type A,1 percent type B, and 18 percent Type X, whereas the students wereclassified as 59 percent Type A, 13 percent Type B, and 28 percent Type X.The findings indicated that the majority of varsity athletes may beclassified as possessing Type A behavior patterns, and the incidence ofoccurrence is significantly greater than in a normal student population. Team-sportparticipants scored higher in group-dependence and anxiety and lower inleadership interest and extroversion than did their peers in individualsports. In 1964, Slusher (1964) studied 4 athletes and a random sample of1 non-athletes from nine high schools, using the MMPI and available Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test scores. They were characterized by a "dominantneurotic profile" and demonstrated the only significantly-higher-than-normal score on the psychasthenis scale, suggesting a tendency towardabnormal fears, worry, and difficulties in concentration (obsessive-compulsive syndrome). Journal of Sport Behavior, 9 (2), 79-91.Slusher, H. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 16 (2), 1 3-112.Craighead, D., Privette, G., Vallianos, F., & Byrkit, D. (1972). Personality characteristics of professional rodeo cowboys. This person is more a leader than a follower and may objectmore than most when restricted or prevented from doing things in his or herown way. Research Quarterly, 38, 249-357.McGill, J., Hall, J. The EPQ can be administeredeasily and contains 57 questions, many of which are similar to the MMPI.It is a self-reporting instrument. Craighead, Privette, Vallianso, and Byrkit (1986) examined thepersonality of basketball players as starters and non-starters and found nosignificant differences between these two positions using the Profile ofMood States. However, when thecategories of offensive and defensive were used, offensive positions werefound to have higher (tough-minded) scores. Psychological aspects of physical education and sport. In contrast, a study by Kroll (1967) also testedwrestlers using the 16PF and found no support to suggest wrestlers maypossess a neurotic profile or that they were below average in intelligence,as suggested by the Slusher study. Trait theory has been underattack not so much because it is an unsound theory as because ipso factopersonality traits emphasize only the personal dispositions in explainingbehavior and minimize the role of situational factors. Thisassumption has led several researchers to investigate the personalitydimension of team-sport athletes compared to individual-sport athletes.Malumphy (1968) found differences between Ohio team- and individual-sportathletes who had participated for two or more seasons. A number of different sports have been the subject of study regardingthe personality of athletes. The dependent variable will be thescore on the EPQ. Intercollegiate competitors in tennis and golf (Malumphy, 1971)appeared to be more intelligent, reserved, assertive, stable, and happy-go-lucky than their college peers. Extroverts, bycontrast, when under stress, tend to be very sociable. The Type A behaviorpattern is a complex of personality traits partially genetically determinedand partially environmentally affected. High dominance, social,aggression, leadership, tough-mindedness and emotional control are a few ofthe qualities attributed to male athletes. At the beginning of the study,personality was assessed using the 16PF. Overall, lacrosse players at all levels werecharacterized as more reserved, intelligent, independent, aggressive andexperimenting than the normative population. Psychological characteristics of male and female body builders: The iceberg profile. Eysenck's validation of the test comesnot only from factor analysis but also from the correspondence between thetest results and behavior observed in laboratory studies; for example, thetest response as a function of the cognitive complexity and anxiety-arousing features of the learning situation.Procedures Subjects will be selected for inclusion in the study based on theirschools' teams. The sample consisted of 79 black women athletesand 117 black women non-athletes. Striving and drivenness were also present, butthey were not different form the general population in introversion. McGill, Hall, Ratliff, and Moss(1986) had 52 cowboys complete four measures of stress, the 16PF, and theHealth Attribution Test. However, there is a tendencyfor women athletes to be shown as relatively anxious extroverts. Journal of Sport Behavior, 6, 136-145. Additionally, some recent psychologicalliterature has tended to strengthen the hopes and expectations of coachesand advisers that the selection, training, and performance of talentedathletes could benefit from psychological insights. Introversion/Extroversion The present study will make use of the concept of introversion ininvestigating the different personality characteristics of two positions inthree team sports. Primarily, thediscussion will center around the issue of introversion and playerposition. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 3, 25-31.Rao, P., & Overman, S. The results of these studies areinconclusive. The psychology of team-sport participation may be different in manyways from the psychology of individual-sport participation. The Bortner 14-item Self-RatingScale was administered to 135 male and female athletes and 513 randomlyselected male and female students from the University of Victoria. A number of useful reviews (Kane, 1976) give some indication of thepresent understanding of the link between personality and physicalabilities and point to many possibilities for clarifying the nature of thislink. Philadelphia: American College of Sports Medicine.Clingman, J., & Hilliard, D. (1985). Personality and Sports Performance Studies The growing knowledge about aptitude, abilities, and skills has justbegun to explain performance differences, in terms of depending to someextent on the individual's unique and personal and behavioral dispositions. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Kane, J. Implications for further research and for practicalapplications will also be discussed. Similarly, the same instruments usedwith the same group of athletes have resulted in contrasting profiles.Therefore, these methodological factors must be taken into account wheninterpreting the results of the studies to be reviewed next. The EPQ isconstructed on the basis of a theory of personality, which makes theassumption that there are two main dimensions of personality: the stable-unstable, and the introverted-extroverted. Psychological well-being and body image: A comparison of black women athletes and non- athletes. A composite personality description derived fromthese scores suggests that a person is a super-adherer not just inathletics but also in everyday life. Fitness measures included gripstrength, predicted body fatness, and predicted maximum oxygen intake. The research aimed at accounting for the personality variables inmotor and sports performance has had to rely on inappropriate andinsensitive tools and models, namely trait theories. Slusher concluded that football andwrestling groups displayed the most neurotic profiles of the five athletegroups and norm sample studied. age.Data Treatment The subjects' scores on the EPQ will be subjected to an analysis ofvariance to determine if any significant differences exist between theoffensive and defensive positions and/or whether or not differences existbetween the team sports. It is therefore notsurprising that the search for links between personality and sportsperformance has been slow. Journal of Sport Behavior, 9 (4), 143-151.Malumphy, T. ReferencesBridgewater, C. (1986). Personality and sex differences related to positions in team sports. The purpose of a study by Eby and Van Gyn (1987) was to investigateany differences in the occurrence of Type A behavior in an elite athletepopulation as compared to a normal student population. Sex-role identity, personality and participation in team and individual sports. In addition, they may be more suspicious,casual, placid, and self-sufficient. (1986). (1986). Data revealed that women athletes indicated morepositive body images on 13 items compared to non-athletes. Yet these theories purport to deal with such issues as thepermanence of personality states, the effects of cognitive and perceptualstyles, the nature of motivation, and the individual's mode of interpretinglearning experiences. Wrestlers had the lowest intelligencescores of all athlete groups. Conclusions on Findings The conclusions of the study will be discussed in terms of theliterature review. (1983). In W. (1968). (1963). Research on skiinstructors reports differences from non-athletes in terms ofcompetitiveness, goal orientation, independence, nurturing, and sensuality(Bridgewater, 1983). Since some schools do not have soccer teams, it will benecessary to find schools, which have either all three teams or at leastone of the teams. A psychological profile of skiers. Subjects will bemales between 13 and 17 from various junior and senior high school teams.The subjects' parents will be asked to sign a parental consent form.Research Design The independent variables will be the team sport and the positionsplayed, namely defensive and offensive. The concept of introversion-extroversion has beensuggested in the literature review above as being a personality trait,which has been found to differentiate players in different sports.However, the application of the concept to offensive-versus defensive-position players has not been as widely researched. Hughes, T. Research on female athletes has been slower in coming. Subjects will be included in the study based on parentalconsent and on school consent. In Harris (Ed.) DGWS research reports: Women in sports (15-19). A total of 32 body-image items wereselected as independent variables, with psychological well-being treated asthe dependent variable. A study of personality characteristics of a selected group of Springfield College freshmen. Yet somestudies have sought to describe the female athlete's personality profile.One of the best studies on the personality characteristics of the femaleathlete is Mushier's (1972) cross-sectional study, in which she randomlyselected girls and women from junior high school competition through adultnational competition. In W. Personality and intelligence characteristics of selected high school athletes and non- athletes. First, they may tend tofunction better at a high level of arousal, which may influence theintensity at which they exercise. The objective of a study by Rao and Overman (1986) was to compare theperceptions of body image and psychological well- being between black womenathletes and non-athletes. Mostrecently, the argument for the existence of these links has focusedattention of the possible effects of physical activity on body image andself-concept (Kane, 1972). In Williams & Sperryn (Eds.), Sports medicine (n.p.). The studies included in these reviews tend to fall into categories:those attempting a simple personality description (via Cattell or Eysenck)of athletes versus non-athletes, and those correlational studiesdemonstrating the relationship between personality and physical ability.The correlational studies have been very few and involve more sophisticatedexperimental techniques. Such dispositions that an individual brings to a performance are not fullyunderstood, neither as to the nature of the predisposition nor as to thepredictive value. Washington, D.C.: American Association for Health, Physical education and Recreation.Mushier, C. Triathletes scored significantly lowerthan runners and swimmers but did not differ from cyclists on the "harmavoidance" scale. Accordingto Mushier, the similarity between the lacrosse samples, regardless oftheir age or experience level, suggests that self-selection into sportscompetition on the basis of existing personality factors--and not theeffect of the experience of sports competition--is the prime reason for thepersonality structure of competition. Further analysis will be performed if theanalysis of variance turns out to be significant. Extroverts may also be morelikely to seek out situations of high arousal, such as game playing, tosatisfying their stimulus need. Theywere more concerned with bodily safety than were the triathletes, and theywere more autonomous than runners. These authors foundthat participants in team sports had higher extroversion scores thanindividual-sport participants. Introversion does seem to have some relationship to theparticipation in team versus individual sports, but the relation toposition in team sports is not clear. Kroll (Ed.), Psychological aspects of wrestling (n.p.). Introvertsmay take to the speaking platform, as in the leading of a religiousmovement, but even then they are impelled from within. These authors found a similar mode of responding among thevarious sports. Athletesindicated greater psychological well-being than non-athletes. It is apparent from current literature that, whileathletes differ from non-athletes on a variety of personality factors, themajority of the studies have found that these differences are sport-specific. Many different instruments havebeen used on the same group of athletes with differing descriptions of thepersonality profile of the group. Further analysis as a function of age and genderindicated that the younger women in the sample were responding somewhatdifferently from others. Personality and performance in sport. Once subjects have been selected, the EPQwill be administered. Personality of women athletes in intercollegiate competition. Personality characteristics of basket ball players, starters and non-starters. Journal of Sport Behavior, 6, 165-173.Brown, E. Characteristics ofintroverts include shyness and a preference for working alone. (1983). However, in the past few years, the field ofpersonality has matured, focusing to a great extent on the search foralternatives or extensions of trait theory. The introversion-extroversiondimension reflected the degree to which people are generally outgoing andparticipative in interactions with other people. Swimmers were not as aggressive as cyclists ortriathletes, and they were not as carefree as runners or triathletes. The super-adherer is motivated toachieve and has the determination and perseverance to do whatever work isnecessary. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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