2. Personality

Question 1

What makes an athlete?

Answer 1

• Physical characteristics
• Mental characteristics
• Emotional characteristics
• Spiritual characteristics

Question 2

When does one become an athlete?

Answer 2

One decides for oneself

Question 3

Why study personality?

Answer 3

To understand people

Question 4

Define personality.

Answer 4

The underlying, relatively stable psychological structure and processes that organize human experience and shape a person’s activities and reactions to the environment

Question 5

Is there an athletic type?

Answer 5

NO! Many types of athletes and personalities

Question 6

Is personality inborn or learned?

Answer 6

Majority of personality is learned

Question 7

At what age is personality basically set?

Answer 7

Age 4

Question 8

Can you modify/change personality?

Answer 8

No, but you can manage personality by modifying behavior

Question 9

Define affect.

Answer 9

Emotional state

Question 10

Define traits.

Answer 10

Long term characteristics that are stable over many different situations

Question 11

Define state.

Answer 11

Transient, here & now, momentary state of being

Question 12

Define normative.

Answer 12

Characteristics that have a normal distribution

Question 13

List the theories of personality.

Answer 13

• Biological
• Psychodynamic
• Humanistic
• Behavioral
• Trait
• Interactional

Question 14

According to the interactional theory of personality, what is behavior?

Answer 14

A function of a combo of personality and environment

Question 15

What is the sport specific model of Silva’s Personality-Performance Pyramid?

Answer 15

• Elite
• Olympic
• National
• Collegiate
• Scholastic
• Recreational / Entrance
• Personality homogeneity on the way up
• Personality heterogeneity on the way down

Question 16

What 2 words describe Silva’s Personality Pyramid? How?

Answer 16

• Modification = modify behaviors based on what level you’re performing at
• Attrition = drop out due to choice/not choice

Question 17

How is personality measured?

Answer 17

• Interviews
• Direct observation
• Personality tests

Question 18

Why are personality tests used in sports?

Answer 18

• Self awareness

- Team communication

Question 19

List the paper & pencil personality tests.

Answer 19

• Eyesenck Personality Inventory
• Cattell 16 Personality Factors
• Edwards Personal Preference Schedule
• Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator
• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
• Profile of Mood States

Question 20

Who are the high risk sports participants?

Answer 20

• Skydiving, base & bungee jumping
• SCUBA, free & cave diving
• Hang gliding, parasailing
• Rock climbing, alpine mountaineering
• X Games

Question 21

Why do people participate in high risk sports? What general “types” of people participate?

Answer 21

• Sensation seeking
• Birth Order = youngest
• Gender = males

Question 22

What are the aspects of sensation seeking?

Answer 22

• Thrill & adventure seeking
• Experience seeking
• Disinhibition
• Boredom susceptibility

Question 23

Explain the birth order effect of sensation seeking.

Answer 23

• Youngest sibling is most often the sensation seeker
• Oldest sibling is often the more responsible one
• Effect becomes more diluted the larger the age gap between siblings

Question 24

Explain the gender differences of sensation seeking.

Answer 24

• Males often more sensation seeking
• Culture promotes this
• Parenting patterns promote this
• Role models

Question 25

Explain Morgan’s Iceberg Profile.

Answer 25

• 1200 athletes in original study
• Compared to avg Americans (norm)
• Elite athletes had an iceberg profile (scored low in tension, depression, confusion; scored high in vigor)