Personality

• Trait Theory

  • Personality is innate and within the athlete's genes
  • Athlete has a natural tendency to act in any given situation
  • Limitation - it doesn't take into account adapting behaviour to the environment or that behaviour is not always predictable
• Trait theory - Introvert

  • Shy and reserved
  • Fast arousal levels
  • Prefer isolation from others
• Trai theory - Neurotic

  • Extreme and unpredictable emotions
  • Unreliable moods
  • High degrees of stress - anxious
• Trait theory - Extrovert

  • Outgoing and sociable
  • Slow arousal levels
  • Interact well with others
• Trait theory - Stable

  • Predictable emotions
  • Predictable moods
  • Tend not to experience intense stress
• Type A personality

  • Highly competitive
  • Desire to succeed
  • Need to be in control
  • Prone to stress
• Type B personality

  • Non-competitive
  • Lacks desire to succeed
  • Does not enjoy control
  • Less prone to stress
• Social learning theory (Bandura)

  • Personality is learned through environmental experiences and the influence of others
  • It is not stable and constantly changing
  • Personality evolves through modelling and reinforcement
• Social learning theory 6 stages

  DARMMM

  • Demonstration
  • Attention
  • Retention
  • Motor production
  • Motivation
  • Matching Performance
• Interactionist Theory

  • Suggests personality is a combination of inherent traits and a person's learned experiences of a situation or environment
  • Traits determine behaviour but can be modified by situation
  • B=F(P.E) Behaviour is the function of personality and environment
  • Hollander 1967 used the concentric ring theory to explain the interactionist approach

  
• Hollanders structure 1967

  1.The psychological core

  The 'real you'

  2.Typical responses

  Usual way we respond to the environment

  Learned and stored experience

  Responses may indicate the nature of the core

  3.Role related behaviour

  Determined by our perception of environment at any given time

  Can be changed at any time

  Action may not be a typical response but uncharacteristic action
• Biological Theory - Sheldon


  Sheldon noted that personality was categorised into 3 personalities based on physical make up.

  Endomorph

  Ectomorph

  Mesomorph
• Sheldon - Endomorph

  • Wide hips and narrow shoulders (pear shaped)
  • Quite a lot of fat spread across the body
  • Sociable, fun-loving, tolerant, even-tempered, relaxed
• Sheldon - Ectomorph

  • Narrow shoulders and hips
  • A thin and narrow chest and abdomen
  • Very little body fat
  • Never seem to put on weight
  • Self-conscious, introverted, inhibited, socially anxious, intense and thoughtful
• Sheldon - Mesomorph

  • Broad shoulders and narrow waist
  • Muscular body
  • Very little body fat
  • 'Well proportioned'
  • Adventurous, courageous, assertive, competitive, risk taker, extroverted.
• Personality profiling methods

  1. Interviews
  2. Observations
  3. Questionnaires
• POMS -Profile of Mood States

  • 65 words/statements
  • measures:
  • Anger
  • Confusion
  • Depression
  • Fatigue
  • Tension
  • Vigour
• Iceberg profile - POMS

  • Morgan & Johnson (1978) found that plotting elite performers' mood state results before competition, exhibited the iceberg profile.
  • With a raised peak for vigour