Sports Psychology
Personality
What is Personality?
 Stable, enduring and unique to each individual.
 Personality determines the way an individual
responds to the environment.
 It is the key to optimising performance and therefore
the backbone to the whole course.
 It involves: character, temperament, intellect and
physique.
DEFINITION
 “Personality is the sum total of an
individual’s characteristics which make him
unique” (Hollander, 1967)
What Makes Up Personality?
What Makes Up Personality?
Psychological Core
The most basic and deepest attitudes,
values, interests, motives, and selfworth of a person—the “real” person.
Typical Responses
The way one typically adjusts or
responds to the environment.
Example:
Being happy-go-lucky, shy etc.
Role–Related
Behavior
How one acts in a particular
social situation, or when fulfilling
expectations of self and others.
Example:
Behavior as a student, parent, or
friend; leader or captain of a team
3 Main Theories for
Personality
• TRAIT THEORY
• INTERACTIONIST THEORY
• SOCIAL LEARNING
THEORY
How do the theories differ?
TRAIT THEORY
 Personality is innate
 Stable/enduring/unchanging
 Enables you to predict behaviour
 Behaviour remains the same in all
situations
 Eg – a tennis player who is losing always
‘loses the plot’ and smashes their
racket etc.
INTERACTIONIST THEORY
• Personality is formed due to a
combination of traits and the environment
• Characteristics/traits differ by the
environment/situation
• Enables more stable behaviour in certain situations –
UNPREDICTABLE
• Change of environment = Change of behaviour
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
• We learn to deal with situations by
observing others.
• We then MODEL our behaviour on what
we have seen.
• This is in addition to the idea of learning
skills by watching others.
• Bandura says that behaviour is
determined by the situation.
• Social approval or disapproval
determines our responses since such
behaviour is reinforced or penalised by
the peer group.
Personality and links to Sport
• As a coach how does knowledge of a person’s
personality assist ……
• Knowledge of personality is important to ensure
Optimum performance
• Why should a teacher/coach know what an
individual is like in different situations?
• Understand how to deal with individual
• Know how to get the best out of him/her
• Develop most effective methods of coping with
changing situations
The ‘Narrow Band Approach’
In 1990 Girdano took this Trait Theory further and presented the Narrow Band
Approach.
Girdano (1990) suggested that there are two distinct personality types – type A and
type B
TYPE A
characterised by :
• impatience
• works at a rapid pace
• higher levels of stress
• easily aroused
• strong desire to succeed
• anxiety in stressful situations
• lacking in tolerance
• has a need to be in control
• makes decisions quickly without
much preparation or thought
TYPE B








characterised by :
relaxed and patient
allow time for tasks to be
completed
tolerance of others’ mistakes
delegates easily
low personal stress
calm and unflappable in most
situations
less competitive
prepared to wait and assess all
options when decisions need to
be made
TYPE A
• Higher levels of stress,
this person lacks
tolerance and patience
• e.g. a gymnast who
seems very anxious in
most situations and
does not suffer fools
gladly
TYPE B
• More relaxed, this person
has low personal stress
• e.g. a volleyball player
who tends to be calm in
most situations and seems
unflappable
Personality Characteristics
Stable:
Behaviour is predictable
Eg: Golfer who has an even temperament in most
situations
Neurotic:
Behaviour is unpredictable
Eg: Football player who tends to fly off the handle if
game is not going his/her/teams way
Extroversion:
Affiliates to other people/Seeks out social situations
Eg – Hockey player who likes to socialise after a game
Introversion:
Avoids social situations
Eg – A rugby player who sits quietly after a game and
seems very shy