Unit 2 Course Content Flashcards
Personality
the underlying relatively stable psychological structure and processes that organize human experience and shape a person’s activities and reactions to the environment
What forms a psychological core?
Traits (assertive, warm, friendly, trusting, etc.)
States
momentary feelings and thoughts that change as a function of the situation and time
What are the “Big Five” personality traits?
Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
(OCEAN)
Which two of the “Big Five” have been found to consistently relate to competitive athletes?
extraversion (social optimists, risk takers, highly sociable)
neuroticism (more resilient to aversive stimuli, more confidence, and less anxious)
Openness
- artistically sensitive vs insensitive
- intellectual versus unreflective
- refined vs crude
- imaginative vs simple
Conscientiousness
- fussy and tidy vs careless
- responsible vs undependable
- persevering vs quitting
Extroversion
- talkative vs silent
- open vs secretive
- sociable vs reclusive
Agreeableness
- good natured vs irritable
- not jealous vs jealous
- gentle vs headstrong
- cooperative vs negativistic
Neuroticism
- calm vs anxious
- composed vs excitable
- emotionally stable vs moody and unstable
What does the biological approach to personality emphasize?
heredity, constitutional, and physiological determinants in shaping personality
What is the logic behind the biological approach to personality?
because individuals innately possess bio-physiological factors, it is believed that they are predisposed to show certain behaviours given supporting environmental or situational conditions
Describe the constitutional theory of William Sheldon (1940)
suggests that physical characteristics are associated with personality types and that there are 3 major body types (endomorphs, mesomorphs, and ectomorphs)
List the personality traits associated with the endomorph, mesomorph, and ectomorph body types
endomorph - sociable, content, talkative, lover of easy/good life
mesomorph - energetic, assertive, competitive, powerful, muscular, courageous
ectomorph - introverted, shy, quiet, intellectual, and inhibited
What is the main criticism of Sheldon’s constitutional theory?
that the body types and descriptions should be considered stereotypes
Describe how the psychodynamic model views personality in sport
Children go through stages of psycho-sexual development, depending on how they experience things they go through the structure of personality (id, ego, and superego), child is faced with having to deal with libido (psycho-sexual drives), and how the child copes and resolves conflict defines his or her adult personality
Participation in sport has different symbolic meanings to different athletes
Describe the humanistic model view of personality in sport
- opposite of psychodynamic theory
- humans are motivated by reaching their potential (actualization)
- the growth process is determined by cognitive and experiential factors
- people assumed to be good and they grow because of free choice and determination
Behavioural model on personality in sport
- all behaviour (including personality development) is determined by experience (conditioning)
- personality is shaped through cumulative effects of reinforcement from social factors and situations
Situationism and Interactionism on personality in sport
personality reflects the environment or situation that a person is in, and is not determined just by traits
(people act different in various situations)
Mental toughness
personal characteristics that allow individuals to cope with challenging situations to attain important achievement goals
What things contribute to the development of mental toughness?
- Personal characteristics (skills or resources like tough attitude or resourcefulness)
- Interactions with the environment (person-environment interactions including positive, supportive relationships & motivational climates that encourage mental toughness)
- . Progressive development (continual opportunities for athletes to master skills, gain independence, and improve performance)
Breadth of experience (critical events that encourage adaptation and growth as athletes learn to cope with pressure)
What are the limitations of personality in explaining sport performance?
- accurate prediction is limited because of error in personality measurement
- the ability to predict athletic potential depends on more than knowledge of personality traits
- the relationship between personality factors and athletic performance are not a priority of most contemporary sport psychologists.
- there are no consistent research findings that show consistent dispositional personality differences between individual sport athletes and team sport athletes
