Sports Psychology

Personality

Personality TIPS!• Make sure you learn the specific

definition of personality!• Have awareness of the links between

personality and sports performance.• It is important to understand the NATURE

(trait) V NURTURE (social learning) and interactionist perspectives of behaviour.

• Learn the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective.

• Be aware of the problems associated with the use of personality profiling in sport.

Personality

• What is personality?– Write down your own definition.

• How do you think our personalities are formed?

• Who do you think influences our personality?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvvKUtHlDK8

Personality “The sum total of an individuals

characteristics which make him unique” (Hollander).

“Personality is the more or less stable and enduring organisation of a persons

character, temperament, intellect and physique which determines the unique

adjustment to the environment” (Eysenck).

Personality Theory

• Trait Theory

• Social Learning Theory

• Interactionist Approach

• Hollander’s Structure

Trait Theory“People are born with established personality characteristics”

Inherited at birth. Stable Attempts to predict Enduring behaviour consistent in all situations.

BEHAVIOUR = FUNCTION OF PERSONALITY +ve = Can be easily measured through questionnaires-ve = Does not take into account environmental influences. It is not a true indicator of behaviour.

CATTELL (1965) identified 16 personality traits

INTROVERT & EXTROVERT

Personality Types

INTROVERTShy, timid,

reserved, aloof, self sufficient

EXTROVERTAdventurous,

confident,Sociable,

Group dependent, enthusiastic

TYPE ‘A’Highly competitive,

Strong desire to succeed,Works fast, likes to control,

Prone to suffer stress

TYPE ‘B’Non-competitive,

Unambitious,Works more slowly,

Does not enjoy controlLess prone to stress

TRAITS NARROW BAND APPROACH, GIRDANO, 1990

Eysenck’s Trait Theory

Extrovert (likes social affiliation)

Stable (reliable/predictable)

Neurotic (extreme emotions/unreliable)

Introvert (avoids social contact)

Extroverts

• Said to achieve more in higher arousal situations.• Prefer team oriented situations.• Like activities which involve gross motor skills.• Prefer activities which are less continuous

eg.marathon could be demotivating & become bored.

• Extrovert behaviour is loud, bright & outgoing.

Introverts

• High levels of excitation.

• Tend not to need added stimulation & excitement.

• Prefer to take part in activities requiring more precision eg. Archery.

• Introvert behaviour is shy, quiet & reserved.

Stable/Neurotics

• Stable behaviour is consistent.

• Neurotic behaviour is extreme, varied & anxious.

Task

• Do you agree that people with certain personality characteristics are more suited to taking part in certain sports? Why/Why not?

• Can you think of 2 people in the same sport that have similar characteristics?

• Think of 2 people in the same sport with contrasting personalities.

Social Learning Theory

• States that behaviour changes with the situation.

• Rather than being born with characteristics, we learn them from other people, especially those we hold in high esteem– eg significant others such as role models,

friends & parents

Social Learning Theory• We are more likely to learn reinforced

behaviour - why?• We learn our behaviour by the following

process:• observe identify reinforce copy• We observe others & copy them. • We can also learn from experience.

• -ve = Does not consider inherited behaviour (traits)

Interactionist Approach

• Combines trait theory & social learning theory.

• Suggests that we base behaviour on inherent traits that we then adapt to the situation we are in.

• Behaviour changes with the situationB = f (PE), where behaviour is a function of personality & environment.

Interactionist Approach

• Example:

• a games player might be loud, extrovert & dominant manner in the game because that is the best way to succeed, but would be more quiet & focused when in a training session designed to improve individual technique.

Personality- with your partner…

• Define personality

• Explain the trait theory of personality

• Explain the social learning theory

• Explain the interactionalist approach

Stretch & Challenge

• Hollander suggested a model to explain personality- can you explain this model?

Hollander’s Structure of Personality

12 3

Social Environment

The boundary line of each layer gets wider as you get closer to the centre of the model

which shows that each layer is harder to enter. As you move closer to the centre, your ‘real’

personality begins to surface.

Hollander’s Structure• 1 = The Psychological Core:

– The ‘real you’.

• 2 = Typical Responses:– Usual way we respond to the environment.– Learned & stored experience.– Responses may indicate the nature of the core.

• 3 = Role-related behaviour:– Determined by our perception of env at any given time.– Can be changed at any time– Action may not be a typical response but uncharacteristic

action.

Can we measure personality?

• Difficult- no clear definition!

• Questionnaire; interview; observation

• Measurement error

WHY? Good to predict who will drop out of sport, but also good for talent identification

Questionnaires

Advantages Disadvantages

Easy to administer Validity? No definition of personality

Data collection Responses affected by mood, attitude etc

Large numbers May lie

Quick Not understand

Yes/no too limited

Ethics

Self Report Questionnaires

• Eysencks personality inventory (EPI)

• SCAT, STAI (sport related objectives)

• Profile of Mood States

Profile of Mood States

Profile of Mood States

• Personality of performer changes from moment to moment

• Mood states more useful in identifying elite athletes

• Seen as best predictor of performance and behaviour

Profile of Mood States • Successful athletes scored higher

on anger and vigour but score lower on depression, fatigue, and confusion.

• Unsuccessful athletes score equally across all mood states.

• In other words, the elite athletes score higher on the positive mood of vigour and lower on the negative moods of depression, fatigue, and confusion.

• Suggestion that the absence of an iceberg is an indication that something is wrong– E.g. overtrained swimmers

showed lower than expected scores on vigour and higher scores on fatigue, depression, and confusion.

Problems?

• The main problem is that these results can be assumed for ALL athletes.

• Not all elite performers show an iceberg profile.

• Could suggest that by becoming successful athletes, the elite performers acquire self-confidence and ‘feel-good’ factors that lead them to develop positive mood states.

A coach will often try to pair players with compatible personalities to form a successful

double partnership

• What do you understand by Profile of Mood States? (3)

Observations

• Observed over time and a personality profile compiled

• Time consuming

• Subjective

Personality and Sporting Performance

• Is there a link?

• Can questionnaires be used to predict this?

Credulous Vs Sceptical approach

Credulous Approach

• Although there is a link between personality research and performance in sport, there is lack of evidence to support this.

• Personality traits linked to specific types of sports. Eg calm under pressure

• Used as talent identification

• Iceberg profile

• Linked to high levels of vigour

Sceptical Approach

• Evidence is too general – personality alone can not predict behaviour.

• No clear link between sport and personality type- Choice of sport

• Research often contradicts each other

• Personality can change due to situation

In conclusion??

• Neither approach has been proved conclusive/ no evidence to make accurate predictions!!

Imagine that you are taking an exam. The exam has negative marking (if you get a question wrong you lose marks). After

20 mins you find you have done all of the questions you knew the answers to or could make an intelligent guess at.

There are 10 questions left what would you do?

A)Answer the 10 questions and risk losing the marks?

B) Sit safely and have a rest?

Are you a nAch OR a Naf??? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc

• England are in the world cup final (go with it!) it has come down to penalties….

A worldwide audience is watching, the crowd is going wild…

Do you step up?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc

Achievement Achievement Motivation Motivation

Achievement Motivation is a concept developed by sports psychologists to link

PERSONALITY and COMPETITIVENESS.

The major issue centres on the extent to which an INDIVIDUAL IS MOTIVATED TO

ATTAIN SUCCESS.

Success in sport is measured against some type of COMPETITIVE GOAL.

Atkinson & McClelland (1976) – Interactionist View

Competitive orientation is generated through personality and situational

factors

In any challenging situation, everyone will have both a ‘need to achieve’ and a

‘need to avoid failure’. Whichever feeling is stronger will determine whether the

task is accepted or declined.

• Need to Achieve (n.Ach)

• Motive to succeed

• Need to Avoid Failure (Naf)

• Motive to avoid failure

• Interactionist approach

• Sense of pride and satisfaction from competing• Perseverance• Like feedback• Optimism• Confident• Like 50/50 situations• Approach behaviour• Task persistence • Take responsibility for their own actions• Attribute performance to internal factors• Takes risks and challenges• Like being evaluated• Don’t mind if they fail- see it as a learning experience

n.Ach

• Attempt to avoid shame and humiliation• Worry about failure• Avoid situations with a 50-50 chance of success• Chose tasks that are easy or very heard• Don’t like feedback• Attribute performance to external feedback• Performance worsens if evaluated• Give up easily • Avoidance behaviour

Naf

• When faced with a competitive situation we make a decision based on our relative strengths of each aspect of personality

Achievement motivation=

desire to succeed- fear of failure

• A club standard tennis player with a motive to achieve is given the opportunity to play some one of a similar standard or better ability. They will rise to the challenge and use the experience he may gain irrespective of the result. However, a player with a motive to

avoid failure will tend to choose opponent who is better or worse then them, because they are not expected to win, or should do easily. As a result the outcome will not be a reflection of

the players ability.

• Our level of achievement motivation is a combination of personality and evaluation of the situational factors.

• Evaluation assesses two aspects:

1.Probability of success

2.Incentive value of the success (feelings of pride or shame following the task)

What can the coach do to encourage a need to achieve???

• As a coach you want a player with a high level of achievement motivation.• Reducing punishment and negative feelings• Gradually increasing the task difficulty but ensuring challenging tasks still

set• Raising levels of self efficacy- avoiding learned helplessness• Set goals that are achievable • Re attribute• Praise from significant other• Encourage feelings of pride and satisfaction through success. • Ensure that at least some situations guarantee early success• and subsequently gradually increase task difficulty in line with progress• Ensure that the probability of success is good• Ensure that the incentive value of the success is high (is the race worth

winning?)

Development of Approach Behaviour

Reduce tendency and motive to avoid failure (naf)

• Reduce punishment hence lowering the chance of performer worrying about failure.

• Focus negative feedback on effort rather than ability. This avoids the performer tending to believe that causes of failure are internal (due to lack of ability for example) and reduces the risk of learned helplessness.

• Avoid situations where defeat / failure is inevitable (such as performing against a much superior opponent) if this is not possible alter the criteria for success (you will have succeeded if you only lose by 2 goals).