PERSONALITY
A2 PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Psychological Aspects
LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Aspects of personality
• Definition of personality
• Interactionist perspective
• Personality as a predictor of performance
DEFINITIONS
• An individual’s predisposition to behave in a certain way.
• The sum total of an individuals characteristics which make
him unique” (Hollander 1971)
• “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)
• Pg 121 in AQA textbook.
TASK
• Write 10 honest endings to ‘I am...’ then, when
you have finished, share what you have written
with someone.
1 Do your answers sum up your personality? You
will probably have to ask someone else to
answer this for you!
2 Why do your responses sum up your personality,
or, if they don’t, why not?
INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE
• An explanation of behaviour that assumes that our
personality depends on our traits and on the environment.
• Pg 122 in AQA textbook.
Interactionist Theory
“Behaviour occurs from the interaction between inherited traits and learned
experiences”
BEHAVIOUR (B) = FUNCTION (f) OF PERSONALITY (P) × ENVIRONMENT (E)
B = f (P.E)
PERFORMANCE PREDICTORS
• Personality can be used as a predictor of performance. One
way of doing this is by using the Talent-identification
programme.
Talent-identification programme
A systematic method of identifying and selecting
those who have the ability or qualities to
progress further to a higher competitive level.
This is also a way of measuring and predicting types of
personality.
PERSONALITY TYPES
TRAITS
NARROW BAND APPROACH,
GIRDANO, 1990
INTROVERT
Shy, timid,
reserved, aloof,
self sufficient
TYPE ‘A’
Highly competitive,
Strong desire to succeed,
Works fast, likes to control,
Prone to suffer stress
EXTROVERT
Adventurous,
confident,
Sociable,
Group dependent,
enthusiastic
TYPE ‘B’
Non-competitive,
Unambitious,
Works more slowly,
Does not enjoy control
Less prone to stress
PERSONALITY THEORIES
Trait Theory
“People are born with established
personality characteristics”
Inherited at birth.
Stable
Enduring
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
Social Learning Theory
(Bandura)
“All behaviour is learned through
interaction with the environment”
BEHAVIOUR = FUNCTION OF
ENVIRONMENT
-ve = Does not consider inherited
behaviour (traits)
Interactionist Theory
“Behaviour occurs from the
interaction between inherited traits
and learned experiences”
BEHAVIOUR = FUNCTION OF
PERSONALITY × ENVIRNOMENT
CONCENTRIC RING THEORY
(Hollander 1967)
Role Related Behaviour – Surface of
personality
The Psychological Core – The ‘real you’
Typical Response – Your usual response
in most situations
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
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY
(Freud 1933)
ID
Basic Instinct
(no conscious
control)
EGO
Conscious
link with reality
ID, EGO & SUPER
EGO interact to
produce individual
patterns of
behaviour in sport.
SUPER EGO
Moral Arm
(social conscience)
****THINK OF AGGRESSION AS AN
EXAMPLE!****
Personality is formed from the
conflict of SEEKING,
RELEASING and
INHIBITING behaviour.
EYSENCK’S PERSONALITY TYPES
NEUROTIC
(UNSTABLE)
anxious, moody, unpredictable & illogical
INTROVERT
EXTROVERT
unsociable, shy & nervous
sociable, outgoing & lively
STABLE
calm, even-tempered, controlled 7 logical