Unit 1- Personality, Arousal and
Anxiety
Personality Types
Personality Testing
Achievement Motivation
Theories of Arousal
Arousal and Performance
Contents
Personality Types
Achievement Motivation
•
Trait Theory
•
Achievement Motivation
•
Interactionalist Theory
•
Characteristics of NACH and NAF
•
Hollander’s Model
•
Encouraging NACH behaviour
•
Trait V Interactionalist
Arousal
•
Eysenck’s Model
•
Cognitive and Somatic Arousal
•
Narrow Band Theory
•
Drive Theory
•
Social Learning
•
Inverted U Hypothesis
Personality Testing
•
Optimal Arousal
•
Observations, Questionnaires and Survey
•
Catastrophe Theory
•
Profile of Mood States (POMS)
•
Peak Flow experience
•
Encouraging NACH behaviour
•
Zone of Optimal Functioning
Trait theory
Trait theory was based on 3 assumptions…
 Tendency to behave is stable and unchanging
 Tendency to behave is consistent in all different situations
 Each person has a unique combination of dispositions
Criticism
Doesn’t explain why our behaviour may change in different situations
 Social learning theory- learn by copying others (significant others, friends etc.)
Interactionalist theory
Interactionalist theorists built on the work by the Trait theorists
They suggested that our behaviour depends upon what traits we have inherited and how
these are influenced by our environment.
So we can split personality up into…
Traits (Internal)
Environment (external)
This suggests that our behaviour should be predictable in certain environments
However
Behaviour may be different as the environment changes
Hollander’s Model
Psychological Core
• Inner core of beliefs, values and attitudes
• Fairly permanent, unlikely to change
Typical responses
• Responses to a situation show our core
• Different core will lead to different responses
Role-related behaviour
• Shows our actual responses to a certain situation
• Most changeable aspect of personality
• Behaviour will vary depending on
• How we feel?
• The situation we are in?
Social
environment
Psychological
Core
Typical
responses
Role related
behaviours
Trait V Interactionalist
Trait
Interactionalist
We inherit traits
that define our
personality, greater
emphasis is place
on the inner core.
How we behave
depends on both
our inner core and
the environment
which we are put it.
Key difference- Emphasis placed upon the effect the environment
has on your chosen behaviour
Federer?
Eysenck’s Model
Personality lies on two continua…
Extroversion ------- Introversion
Stability ------- Neurosis
Extrovert
•
•
•
•
Like social situations
Outgoing
Likes an audience
Become bored easily.
(RAS) Reticular activated
system- not easily
stimulated
Introvert
•
•
•
•
Dislikes Social
situations
Reserved
Dislikes an audience
Easily over aroused
Stable
•
•
•
Reliable
Consistent
Calm
Neurotic
•
•
•
Unpredictable
Restless
Volatile
Narrow Band Theory
Based on Trait theory as it suggests personality is innate…
Type A
Type B
High stress/arousal levels
Low stress/arousal levels
Competitive
Not concerned with competition
Lacks tolerance
Patient
Needs to be in control of task
Doesn’t need to be in control of task
Fast worker
Works slowly
Social Learning
Interactionalist approach as it suggests personality is not innate but learned form our
experiences…
Behaviour changes according to situation
 Therefore cannot be predicted
Significant others
 Parents, peers, coaches, teachers and role models in media
Socialisation
 Accepting and conforming to the ‘norms’
Reinforcement
 If appropriate behaviour is praised more likely to repeat
 Also works with seeing others praised
Personality testing
3 main formats…
Interviews
Observations
Questionnaires
Tests lack Reliability… (results may not be consistent)
 May change their behaviour if the know they are being watched
 May be inhibited by wearing a Heart rate monitor
 Performers may not give truthful answers
 Interpreting behaviour during observations is largely subjective
Tests also lack Validity… (Results may not give any useful information)
 How people act playing sport may not be how they are day-to-day
 Little evidence to support idea of ‘sporting’ personality
Profile of Mood States (POMS)
Some research has illustrated a difference between more and less successful sportsman
 Based on mood states and ability to cope rather than personality traits
Measures the following…
 Tension, Depression, Anger, Vigour, Fatigue, Confusion
Iceberg Profile
Successful athletes tend to score…
 Higher on anger and vigour
 Lower on tension, depression, fatigue and
confusion
Successful
Non-Successful
Can also show when overtraining is happening in
elite performers- reduced Vigour
Chicken and egg scenario?
 Elite become Iceberg or Iceberg become Elite?
Achievement Motivation
Competitiveness is a key factor for distinguishing sport from recreation
It has been suggested that in demanding situations performers exhibit either…
A Need to Achieve (NACH)
Or
A Need to avoid Failure (NAF)
This displays the level of competitiveness shown by an individual
Characteristics of NACH and NAF
NACH Characteristic
NAF Characteristics
Shows ‘approach’ behaviour
Shows ‘avoidance’ behaviour
Seeks out challenges
Avoids challenge- prefers very easy or very
hard tasks (guaranteed success or failure)
Is concerned with standards
Avoids situations where success is unknown
and could be evaluated
Enjoys being evaluated
Performs worse while being evaluated
Not afraid to fail
Tends to be preoccupied with failure
Attributes performance to internal factors
Attributes performance to external factors
High task persistence
Lacks task persistence
Values feedback form others
Doesn’t value feedback
Encouraging NACH behaviour
Avoidance behaviour arises due to…
 Lack of self confidence
 High anxiety
 Learned helplessness
 Attributing failure internally
To generate NACH Approach behaviour…
 Ensure success by setting achievable process goals
 Steadily increase complexity of task
 Raise confidence by giving positive re-inforcement
 Highlight successful role-models with comparable characteristics
 Attribute internally for success- Ability or Effort
Cognitive and Somatic arousal
Defined as a state of heightened psychological activity
As a performer you will have experienced various levels of arousal and recognise
both the physical (Somatic) and mental (Cognitive) signs.
Cognitive arousal
Somatic arousal
 Increased focus and concentration
 Increased heart rate
 Heightened awareness of cues in
 Increased breathing rate
environment
 Sweating
 Narrowing of attention
 Headache
 Decreased reaction time (To a point)
 Cold, clammy hands
However if over arousal occurs it can lead to:-
 Dry mouth
 Anxiety and apprehension
 Dazed look in eyes
 Tension
 Feeling on nausea
 Negative self-talk
 Increased muscle tension
 Difficulties sleeping
 Butterflies in stomach
 Inability to concentrate
 Constant need to urinate
Drive Theory (Hull, 1943)
Proposed a linear relationship between arousal and performance

As arousal increases so will quality of performance
Higher levels of arousal would intensify the dominant response

For Elite performers this is likely to be correct response

For beginners likely to be incorrect response
Spence and Spence (1968) adapted it using an equation:
Performance = Habit strength x drive
Now considered an inadequate explanation
When arousal reaches a high enough point performance will not improve
Ronaldo
Inverted U Hypothesis (Yerkes and Dodson, 1908)
Suggests that performance will increase with arousal to an optimum point.

However if you go beyond that point then performance will decrease
From observations this seems to fit very well, however, it is too simplistic

Does it apply equally to the different phases of learning?

Does it apply to all sports performance in the same way?
Optimal Arousal
Lion's team talk
Phase of Learning
Nature of the Skill
Beginners find it more difficult to cope with
arousal
Can vary according to the skill being
performed
 Less habitual (Similar to Drive theory)

Gross skills benefit from higher levels of arousal
then fine skills
 Shot Putt compared to Archery

Varies within a sport dependant upon role
 Need to give more attention to the skill itself
and arousal levels may take concentration
away
 Rely heavily on environmental cues, may
miss what is unexpected
 Rugby forwards compared to backs
Autonomous
Fine/
Complex
Cognitive
Arousal
Gross/
Simple
Performance
Performance
Associative
Arousal
Catastrophe theory
Based upon Inverted U theory but differs in what happens during over arousal…

Inverted U suggests gradual decline

Catastrophe theory suggests much faster and more dramatic decline
More of a model than a theory as it attempts to predict human behaviour rather than explain it
A- Performer reaches Optimum level of arousal
A
High cognitive anxiety but low Somatic arousal
Performance
B- Performer has sudden reduction in performance
High cognitive and High Somatic arousal
D
C- Possible that performance will continue to deteriorate
B
Arousal
C
D- Performer gradually regains control as arousal levels
decrease
The worst over ever?
Peak Flow Experience
Challenge High
Positive Psychological state, achieved by
performers when…
 They have correct attentional style
 They have a positive attitude
Apathy
Boredom
Skill Level Low
 They have a clear goal
PEAK
FLOW
 They have control of their arousals levels
To reach the “Zone” performers should
be given a realistic yet challenging
Challenge Low
Skill Level High
 The level of challenge matches their skill
Anxiety
Zone of Optimal Functioning (ZOF)
The Zone (ZOF) is a mental state which performers experience when everything is perfect
Performer ALow ZOF
In the Zone
Performer BModerate ZOF
Out of Zone
Performer CHigh ZOF
Out of Zone
In the Zone
Out of Zone
Out of Zone
In the Zone
Level of Arousal
Characteristics of the ZOF…
 Performing at optimal arousal
 Feeling completely calm
 Fully concentrating on the task
 Feeling completely confident (Success inevitable)
 Performing smoothly and efficiently
Performers will often have limited memory of event- Autopilot