B.1 Individual Differences Flashcards
B.1.1 Define the term Personality
relatively stable and enduring aspects of individuals which distinguish them from other people
B.1.3 What is the interactionist approach to personality
combination of both inherent (built-in) personality traits and environmental factors.
Interactionist theory proposes that personality is modified and behaviour is formed when genetically-inherited traits are triggered by an environmental circumstance
B.1.4 Outline issues associated with the measurement of personality
Limit to:
- data collection (interviews, questionnaires, observing behaviour)
- validity and reliability issues
- ethical issues: confidentiality, use of results, predicting performance.
B.1.5 Evaluate the issues in personality research and sports performance
may not take into account external factors.
since it is a standardized test it lacks validity for certain instances
- athletes versus non-athletes
- personality and sports type
- predicting performance
B.1.2 Discuss social learning theory and personality
- personality is learned through our experiences, observing those around us and imitating their behavior.
- In direct contrast to trait theory, proposes that all behavior is learned.
- Learning occurs by way of environmental experiences and through the influence of other people.
- Personality is, therefore, not genetically programmed. Believe we learn how to act or react by observing others
Trait Theories believes what?
Social learning theory believes what?
Interactionist theory believes what?
Trait Theory- Personalitiy is in our genes
Social Learning- Personaility comes from observing others
Interactionist Theory- Personality is both genetic and observation

What does Demand Characteristic refer to?
refers to subtle cues during an experiment that makes participants form an interpretation of the experiments purpose and unconsciously change their behaviour accordingly
Why are interviews and questionnaires not a valid way to measure someone personality?
When people go in an interview or fill out a questionnaire they tend to change their personality to fit accordingly.
What is the difference between Informant data and Behavioral data?
Informant data- Judgements about a target individual’s general attributes by people who know him or her very well (so like an interview)
Behavioral data- Information that is carefully and systematically recorded from direct observation (so when you oboserve someone behaviors)
Personality differences between team sport athletes and individual sports
Team Sport Athletes: more dependent, extroverted, anxious
Individual Sport Athletes: less imaginative, less anxiety
What is Morgans mental health model and what did it show?
suggests that successful athletes exhibit greater positive mental health than less successful athletes
What was Schurr, Ashley, and Joy’s experiment and their findings?
Experiment-
2000 college males tested using Cattell’s personality inventory (16 factors), athletes and non-athletes
Findings-
no single personality profile (factor) was found that distinguished athletes from non-athletes
In Williams’s findings what did he learn?
That there is no big personality difference between genders in high performance athletes
Explain the Issues in personality research and sports performance of athletes and non-athletes.
- difficult to define the term athlete
- personality is complex and multifaced
- disagreement in research of validity, reliability, and sophistication of models
- difficulties comparing data between different questionnaires
- controversy between the value of personalities impact on performance
- no single personality trait exists that determines successful sports performance
- some personalities are better suited to some sports

Describe the issues associated with the measurment of personality through questionnaires.
- not all questionnaries are vaild
- The context in which the questionnaries are used is important
- questionnaire administration could be in breach of confidentiality
- Athletes my fake or falsify response to conceal a precived weakness
- Use of results determine the effectivness rather than the test itself