Personality and Sport Flashcards
Personality
The characteristics or blend of characteristics that make a person unique The structure of personality: ◦ Psychological core ◦ Typical responses ◦ Role-related behavior
Psychological Core
The most basic and deepest attitudes,
values, interests, motives, and self-worth
of a person—the real person
Example: A person’s religious values
Typical Responses
The way one typically adjusts or responds
to the environment
Example: Being happy-go-lucky, shy
Role-Related Behaviour
How one acts in a particular social situation
Example: Behaviour as a student, parent, or friend
Psychodynamic Approach
Behaviour is determined by several unconscious, constantly changing factors that often conflict with one another.
Emphasis is placed on understanding the person as a whole rather than identifying isolated traits.
Trait Approach
Behaviour is determined by relatively stable traits that are fundamental units of personality.
These traits predispose one to act in a certain way, regardless of the
situation.
Big 5 Model of Personality
Components
- Neuroticism
- Extroversion
- Openness to experience
- Agreeableness
- Conscientiousness
Perfectionism
- setting high standards
- feeling concern over mistakes
- being highly organised
Self-oriented perfectionism
Degree to which one sets high personal standards and stringently self-evaluates relative to those standards
Socially prescribed perfectionism
Degree to which one perceives significant others hold high standards for the person and bases approval on meeting those standards
Other-oriented perfectionism
Degree to which one holds others to extremely high standards
Research Support for Trait Approach
Current impact: Has little influence.
Weakness: Knowing traits will not always help predict behavior in particular situations.
Contribution: Emphasises the importance of traits and the measurement of such dispositions.
Situational Approach
- Behaviour is determined largely by the situation or environment.
- The situation is a more important determinant of behavior than particular personality traits.
- The situational approach is not as widely embraced by most sport psychologists.
Research Support for Situational Approach
Current impact: Has little influence.
Weakness: Situation will not always influence individual behavior.
Contribution: Emphasises the importance of the situation.
Interactional Approach
Behaviour is determined by both the person and the situational factors as well as by their interaction.
The majority of contemporary sport and exercise psychologists favour the interactional approach.
Research Support for Interactional Approach
Current impact: Has considerable influence and has been adopted by most contemporary sport psychologists.
Weakness: None.
Contribution: Emphasises the consideration of both trait and situational variables and their interaction.
Phenomenological Approach
Behaviour is best determined by accounting for situational and personal characteristics.
A person’s understanding and interpretation of one’s self and environment are critical.
The phenomenological view is often stressed by today’s sport psychologists.
Research Support for Phenomenological Approach
Current impact: Has considerable influence and has been adopted by many contemporary sport psychologists.
Weakness: None.
Contribution: Emphasises the contribution of a person’s interpretation of one’s self and environment while considering both
trait and situational variables and their interaction
Measuring Personality
There are general versus situation-specific (sport-specific) measures.
- Situation-specific trait tests predict behavior more accurately than do general trait measures.
- It is often more effective to compare personality test scores to a person’s own previous test results than to group norms.
- Projective tests are interesting but difficult to score
Cognitive Strategies and Athletic Success
Cognitive strategies and mental strategies are among the skills and behaviours that athletes use in competition.
Although they’re not personality traits in the traditional sense, cognitive strategies reflect the behaviour aspect of personality and
interact with personality characteristics.
