The Relationship Between Personality And Sports And Exercise

When an individual grows up to be an athlete, we question them on why they are so talented. There are two factors that are taken into account on this topic, and that is their genetic features or their biocultural characteristics. After long studies, philosophers finally agreed that human development is comprised of two factors: nature and nurture. People argue about this because they believe it is what determines our personality and behavior. Nature is the genetics that determines the result, and nurture is the environment that determines the result. Although these factors can be debatable, most scientists believe both of these contribute to the idea of exercise and sports science. Some believe it is the

For this assignment I will explain the effect of personality and motivation on sports performance.

Men and women are psychologically different in many ways. Some of these differences include competitiveness, goal orientation, self-confidence, motivation, mental toughness, incentives, preferences, etc. According to Anne Bowker in Sports Participation and Self-Esteem, Men have an advantage over women in sports because they're more aggressive and have higher self-esteem (2003).

Personality has been of interest to sport physiologists and researchers for a very long time, dating back to around the 1800s, the reason why it is of such is interest is because they want to find out how personality affects someone when they are doing sport as to what personality makes them better at specific sports compared to other people. But as it is hard to find a direct link from someone’s personality to the specific set of skills they have, there is very little evidence which shows what personality helps someone become good at a specific sport.

The field of sports psychology is only beginning. A short while ago in 1898 an experiment that was conducted by Norman Triplett successfully discovered a positive correlation between a biker’s performance and a social component or audience. Since then the only major progress has been the sports psychology lab established at the University of Illinois in 1925. The man responsible for the lab Coleman Griffith has also offered courses that teach the nature of sports psychology. Griffith’s research focuses on the factors that effect athletic performance such as “reaction time, mental awareness, muscular tension and relaxation, and personality”. Fortunately, a new study has surfaced the Psychology

With more than forty million children participating in sports annually, ethics issues among student athletes are growing in severity and proportion. Rule bending, acts of dishonesty, athletic aggression, cheating and disrespect is becoming more accepted as students age. (Schinke, 2012) Noted authors, Mango and Lamont, address a rise in issues from as simple as cheating to the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs (Mango & Lamont, 2012). And we are seeing that “unsportsmanlike behavior in all levels of competitive sports are common” (Schinke, 2012, p. 74). Consequently, many scholars link this digression to an abundance of poor role models, such as professional athletes and overzealous coaches who lack moral reasoning.

There are varying theories relating to personality, with each theory giving a different viewpoint on how personality affects sporting performance. One of these theories is the Trait Theory (Eysenck) which originally stated that there were only two personality types (introvert and extrovert) but over time realised that this limited the theory and introduced two more personality traits (stable and neurotic). Each one of these personality types has its own unique affect on a sports performance.

Meyers (1991) has shown that an increase to fitness levels in athletes is important to enhance their self-esteem and interpersonal behaviours. Physical practice is important not only for mere practice, but having a clear functioning mind toward the sport, adhering to exercise programs in an endeavour to improve athletic performance, both physically and mentally (Meyers, 1991). Researchers are finding it necessary to modify their approach towards athlete behaviour to enhance performance in the field of sport (Mendoza & Wichman, 1978). Studies also found that mental rehearsal was as effective as physical practice in improving performance, however physical practice gave athletes the benefits of enjoyment and motivation towards sport (Mendoza & Wichman, 1978).

People high in extroversion tend to seek out opportunities for social interaction, where they are often the “life of the party.” They are comfortable with others, gregarious, and prone to action rather than contemplation. People low in extroversion are more likely to be people “of few words,” people who are quiet, introspective, reserved, and thoughtful. The long-term study found that extroversion was fairly stable across the years, indicating that extroverts and introverts do not easily shift into the opposite

The Extraverted criterion in the ESTJ personality type indicates an individual’s social activities and the expression of the self in the external world. With my 1% score in Extraversion, I do not have a significant preference for Extraversion over Introversion. The implication of the marginal score is that I am more likely to regulate my attitude on social activities and seriousness based on the environment. This test reminds me of my 20-somethings. I used

Sports today are popular not only in the United States, but also throughout the rest of the world. Due to the fact that sports have such a large impact on the world around us, it is common to grasp their effects on us as a society. Personality is who you are or accordingly, is defined as the sum of all physical, mental and sociable characteristics. It is important to understand the positive and negative side effects of being heavily involved in sports. What I have experienced from being involved in sports throughout my childhood and into my teenage years was that my personality was developed through sports and made me who I have become. The results I came across while writing this paper have only increased my bias to the topic even if it still needed to be proven with facts. Sports have a positive effect on a person, much like it did on me mentally, socially, and physically. I came to my topic when I was trying to figure out what I was passionate enough to write about. Sports have always played an enormous role in my life and I had the opportunity to show how it affects people’s day to day lives.

Biological theory studies the science of the brain and genetics to identify any links between biological factors and criminal activity. Cherry (2013) states, “One of the best known biological theorists was Hans Eysenck, who linked aspects of personality to biological processes. Eysenck argued that introverts had high cortical arousal, leading them to avoid stimulation. On the other hand, Eysenck believed extroverts had low cortical arousal, causing them to seek out stimulating experiences” (p. 1). An individuals with an introvert personality often shows signs of shyness and lacks confidence, whereas an extrovert is outgoing and confident.

Hans Eysenck (1916-1997) was a personality theorist who focused on providing a biosocial, and neurological basis for trait theory. Eysenck believed that personality is largely governed by biology, and viewed people as having two specific personality dimensions; extraversion versus introversion and neuroticism versus stability. After collaborating with his wife and fellow personality theorist Sybil Eysenck, he added a third dimension to his model, psychoticism versus socialisation. High levels of extraversion are relatable to sociable individuals who readily connect with others, whereas people high on the trait of introversion prefer to be alone, engage in solitary behaviours and limit their interaction with others. In the neuroticism versus stability dimension, high neuroticism relates to anxious individuals

Extraversion, the Big Five personality factor, is a valid predictor for tasks involving social interaction (McCrae & Costa 1988). Extraversion describes the degree to which individuals are gregarious, friendly, compliant, cooperative, nurturing, caring and sympathetic in contrast to introversion, which is characterized by those who are shy, unassertive, and withdrawn (McCrae & Costa 1992). Specifically, high extraversion is featured by a larger number of relationships and a larger proportion of one’s time spent in enjoying them. Low extraversion is characterized by a smaller number of relationships and a smaller proportion of one’s time spent in pursuing those relationships.

In this report, I am going to talk about the effects of personality and motivation on sports performance and I will do this by looking at the different theories relating to sports performance and how sports athletes deal with the effects of personality and motivation in sports performances.