UNIT 13- PSYCHOLOGY
FOR SPORTS
PERFORMANCE
Personality
P1
M1
D1
WHAT IS PERSONALITY???
•
Research the various definitions of personality…
Cattell (1965): ‘that which tells what a man will do when placed in a given situation’
‘Personality is the set of individual characteristics that
make a person unique and will determine their relatively
consistent patterns of behaviour’
THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
Each person appears different in the
decisions they make and how they
behave in a variety of situations…
PERSONALITY looks at these
differences and how they affect
performance.
A number of theories have been proposed over the years to describe personality and its affect
on performance. Yet there are always factors that don’t get taken into account within each
one…
• Trait Theory (dominated much of early research)
• Martens ‘Schematic View’
• Psychodynamic theory
• Social Learning Theory (SLT) ‘Situational approach’
• Interactional approach
TRAIT THEORY
Eysenck and Cattell
• Dominated early personality studies
• Based on the nature approach
• From Psychologists such as Eysenck and Cattell
• Person is the key to personality, not the situation
• Personality traits are stable and enduring, and can therefore
be used to predict behaviour in all situations
• Eg – if someone is competitive, then they will be seen as
competitive in all situations
• Cattell identified 16 different personality traits, such as:
• Dominance
aggressive versus passive
• Emotional Stability
calm and stable versus high-strung
• Liveliness
enthusiastic versus serious
• Privateness
pretentious versus unpretentious
• Reasoning
abstract versus concrete
• Rule Consciousness
moralistic versus free-thinking
• Self-Reliance
leader versus follower
Cattell suggested that these traits are in
everyone, with the strongest overriding
the secondary traits.
To help your understanding
of this, you could try
Cattells trait personality test
at
http://similarminds.com/catt
ell-16-factor.html
• An example of a result from Cattell’s personality test .
Factor
low score
high score
Score
Warmth
cold, selfish
supportive, comforting
50%
Intellect
instinctive, unstable
cerebral, analytical
78%
Emotional Stability
irritable, moody
level headed, calm
42&
Aggressiveness
modest, docile
controlling, tough
74%
Liveliness
somber, restrained
wild, fun loving
74%
Dutifulness
untraditional, rebellious
conforming, traditional
50%
Social Assertiveness
shy, withdrawn
uninhibited, bold
50%
Sensitivity
coarse, tough
touchy, soft
38%
Paranoia
trusting, easy going
wary, suspicious
70%
Abstractness
practical, regular
strange, imaginative
38%
Introversion
open, friendly
private, quiet
62%
Anxiety
confident, self assured
fearful, self-doubting
74%
Openmindedness
closeminded, set-in-ways
curious, exploratory
50%
Independence
outgoing, social
loner, craves solitude
70%
Perfectionism
disorganized, messy
orderly, thorough
82%
Tension
relaxed, cool
stressed, unsatisfied
46%
• Eysenck used a
series of
questions that
would then allow
him to plot
personality on a
graph like this.
• You can take
Eysenck’s trait
personality test here:
• http://similarminds.com/
eysenck.html
2 Major personality dimentions:
– The Extroversion – Introversion dimension
– The Stable – Neurotic dimension
•
It has been argued that extroverts are more successful in many sports
•
Introverts are more likely to be successful in individual sports, such as athletics
and snooker.
•
Stable individuals are normally seen as more successful in sport than unstable
athletes
- Trait approach suggests that personality is enduring across all
situations, and that the causes of behaviour comes from within the
person…
- They argue that the situation that the person finds themselves
in has a very limited effect on behaviour.
•
Strengths
•
•
Easily administered through questionnaires
Weaknesses
•
Doesn’t take situation into account
•
•
Therefore seen as simplistic
•
•
Eg – You will always be competitive
Trait theorists have tried to argue that personality traits are more stable than they really are.
Questionnaires have been criticised
•
Honesty
•
Objectivity
•
In conclusion, personality trait theory cannot predict sporting success. However, it can give an indication why people
choose different sports.
•
Trait theory can predict behaviour in a limited manner. But, traits cannot predict how an individual will behave in a
particular situation.
MARTENS ‘SCHEMATIC
VIEW’
• In this view, personality is seen
as having three different levels
that are related to each other
• Psychological Core
• Typical responses
• Role-related behaviour
• Is what people often call ‘the real you’
• It is the part that contains your beliefs, values and interests and attitudes.
• All of these are seen as relatively stable – that is they are unlikely to change
over a period of time.
Are the usual ways that you respond to the
world around you:
This is often determined by the circumstances
that you find yourself in.
This is seen as a very changeable element of
personality
Effectively, your personality changes as your
perception of your environment changes.
For example, you may be a captain for one team,
where you take on specific roles and demonstrate a
lot of leadership behaviours
Later in the same week, you may be a substitute for
another team, where you will have to follow a lot of
different instructions.
For example, an intentional foul may
make you angry in football, because you
feel that this is unsportsmanlike
behaviour. However, in normal everyday
life, you may be quiet and shy when you
meet people for the first time.
These are your normal responses to
these situations.
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY
The psychodynamic approach says that personality
is made up of conscious
•
Id – instinctive drive
and
unconscious elements
•
Unconscious and makes you do certain things without thinking about them
•
For example – the expectations as a premier league player steps up to take a penalty may make them
freeze
•
Ego – Conscious part
•
Super Ego – moral conscience
The effects of these two can be seen on our football player in a penalty shoot out, when the fear of missing
causes them to refuse to take a penalty
•
Not often used in sport as it focuses on reasons that come from within, and tends to ignore the environment,
which is an essential part of the athlete’s situation.
•
However, it is useful, in that it helps to explain that not all behaviour is under the conscious control of the
athlete.
By Albert Bandura and later by Richard Cox (1998)
(SLT) SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
•
Personality is determined by the environment in which an
individual finds themselves as well as the experiences they had
when they grew up.
2 mechanisms of learning:
MODELLING
REINFORCEMENT
•
It is widely held, that there are two mechanisms of learning
– Modelling
• Observe and imitate parents and siblings.
• As we get older, it becomes our friends, celebrities,
sports stars or anyone else we look up to.
• Individuals are likely to model themselves on
someone they can relate to – age, gender, sport,
social background
• As they observe the behaviour, they attempt to
copy it.
4 Stages:
Attention
Retention
Motor Reproduction
Motivational Response
– Reinforcement
• This means that when behaviour is positively rewarded,
then it is likely to be repeated.
• As youngsters we learn from our parents.
• In sport, there is a system of negative reinforcement to
stop negative behaviour. Think about yellow cards in
football, and the ‘sin bin in rugby.
•
Social learning theory suggests that our personality is made up of the sum of our
experiences, and is not inherited. It suggests that we are made up of what we have seen and
learned, and that our behaviour will vary from one situation to the next.
•
As such it leads us into the next theory
– Situational theory.
SITUATIONAL APPROACH
Based on Social Learning
Theory…
•It says that our behaviour is based on the situation
that we find ourselves in rather than the specific
personality traits.
•There is some support for the situational approach
in sport, as extrovert personalities, such as Ronnie
O’Sullivan participate in sports like snooker that are
more suited to introverts, needing concentration and
focus.
•However, these are not conclusive, and for
every one that does support this theory, there
are 5 that don’t.
•
•
Consequently, it has been
argued that situation is a
more powerful predictor of
behaviour than personality
traits.
However, this has not been
fully supported by research,
and is in no way conclusive.
INTERACTIONAL APPROACH
Trait Theory:
Doesn’t look at the situation
Situational Theory:
Not everyone responds in the same way…
Interactional Approach:
Considers persons
psychological traits and
the situation they are in
as a predictor of
behaviour.
Behaviour= f (personality,
environment
A trait- state approach is needed to
assess an individuals personailty traits and
then assess how such traits affect their
behaviour in a situation (state)
E.G: An athlete with high anxiety levels
as a trait, would have an exaggerated
response to a specific situation… (pre
kick-off)
TYPES OF
Type A and B
PERSONALITY…
Type A:
- Highly competitive and strong
desire to win
- Achievement orientated
- Eat fast, walk fast, talk fast,
strong sense of urgency
- Aggressive, restless, impatient
- Find it difficult to delegate and
needs to be in control
- High level of stress
High blood pressure and higher risk of
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)
Type B:
- Less competitive
- More relaxed
- Delegate work easily
- Take time to complete tasks
- Calm, laid back and patient
- Low level of stress
Sport participation promotes qualities
that Type B poses
PERSONALITY
AND
SPORTS
PERFORMANCE
TASK…
For P1, learners must first define
personality and then describe how
personality affects sports performance…
The description must include – a definition,
personality theories,
personality
types and the effects on sports
performance.
P1, P2
M1
D1
Will be on 1
document.