Structure of personality

- The characteristics or blend of characteristics that make a person unique

- The structure of personality:

Psychological Core Typical responses Role Related Behaviour

The most basic and deepest The way one typically adjusts or How one acts in a particular
attitudes, values, interests, responds to the environment social situation
motives, and self-worth of a
person—the real person

Example. Example. Example.

Summary: Major approaches to Understanding Personality

Psychodynami Trait Situation Interactional Phenomenological Integrated/

c Biopsychosocial

Behaviour is Behaviour is Behaviour is Behavior is best To understand

determined by determined largely by determined by determined by personality, a “whole
Behaviour is
relatively the situation or both the person accounting for situational person perspective” is
determined by
stable traits environment. The and the and personal required, wherein one
several unconscious,
that are situation is a more situational factors characteristics. A needs to consider the
constantly changing
fundamental important determinant as well as by their person’s understanding dynamic interaction
factors that often
units of of behaviour than interaction and interpretation of of biological factors,
conflict with one
personality personality traits. oneself and environment dispositional traits,
another
are critical adaptations one
Most of the
makes to situations,
These traits The situational contemporary
Emphasis is placed and self-defined life
predispose approach is not as sport and exercise Most popular approach
on understanding stories or narratives
one to act in a widely embraced by psychologists today.
the person rather that are all situated in
certain way most sports favor the
than identifying one’s social context or
regardless of psychologists. interactional
isolated traits culture (i.e. help
the situation Situations are not approach
people develop
enough to predict
meaning).
Looks at Id, Ego and behaviour accurately;
Superego an individual’s traits
must also be
considered
Psychodynamic
- Id (Unconscious)
o Basic impulses (sex and aggression); seeking immediate gratification: irrational and
impulsive.
- Ego (Conscious / Preconscious)
o Mediator between id impulses and superego inhibitions.
- Superego (Preconscious)
o Ideals and morals; striving for perfection; incorporated from parents; becoming a
person’s conscience.

Big five personality trait

1) Openness
- The tendency to appreciate new art, ideas, values, feelings and behaviours
o Imaginative
o Prefers variety
o Independent

2) Conscientiousness:
- The tendency to be careful, on time for appointments, to follow rules and to be hardworking.
o Organized
o Careful
o Disciplined
Sports context:
- Positively correlated with physical activity levels
- High-risk and team sports < low-risk and individual sport athletes

3) Extraversion:
- The tendency to be talkative, sociable, and to enjoy others; the tendency to have. A dominant
style
o Sociable
o Fun-loving
o Affectionate
Sports Context:
- Positively correlated with physical activity levels
- Athletes > non-athletes
- High- risk and team sport athletes > low risk and individual sport athletes.

4) Agreeable:
- The tendency to agree and go along with others rather than to assert one’s own opinions and
choices
o Soft-hearted
o Trusting
o Helpful

5) Neuroticism
 - The tendency to frequently experience negative emotions such as anger, worry and sadness,
as well as being interpersonally sensitive
o Anxious
o Insecure
o Self-pitying
Sports context
- Negatively related to physical activity
- Traits that have some utility in predicting behaviour across a number of situations, but the
effects are relatively small.

Examples of Big Five in study

- Twin Study
o Identical and fraternal twins tested to see how genetically influenced each of the big
five personality traits are on each person
 61% openness to experience
 53% extraversion
 44% conscientiousness
 41% both agreeableness and neuroticism
o Environment may indirectly reinforce inherited traits as well
 Gravitational Hypothesis vs. Change Hypothesis
 Reciprocal Determinism
- Children Studies
o Children as young as 5 can describe their personality and that by, 6, children begin to
show consistency and stability in the traits of conscientiousness extraversion and
agreeableness
o There were exceptions known as irritability, activity, and dependency that start to
surface during early childhood.

- Age Differences in Personality

o Scholars have found that people become more conscientious, less neurotic, and
increase in social dominance, a facet of extraversion, as they get older. People also
became more agreeable in old age.
o Social vitality, and openness to experience, both facets of extraversion, were found
more in adolescence and people decreased in extraversion traits during old age.
 Social vitality
 A subdimension of the Big Five that includes facets such as
sociability positive effect and gregariousness
 Social dominance
 A subdimension of the Big Five that includes facts such as
dominance, independence, and self-confidence, especially in social
settings.
 Lexical Hypothesis:
 states that all important personality characteristics should be
reflected in the language that we use to describe other people.
Therefore, if we want to understand the fundamental ways in which
people differ from one another, we can turn to the words that people
use to describe one another.
 Allport and Odbert looked at the dictionary for personality
descriptors. They started with 18,000 words but quickly and
continually reduced the list using statistical methods.

Paradox of Perfectionism
- Personality style characterized by setting extremely high standards of performance, striving
for flawlessness, and a tendency to be overly critical in evaluating one’s performance
 - Perfectionism consists of various components, including setting high standards, feeling
concern over mistakes and being highly organized

1. Self-oriented: Degree to which one sets high personal standards and stringently self-
evaluates relative to those standards
a. “I strive to be as perfect as I can be”

2. Socially prescribed: Degree to which one perceives significant others hold high standards
for the person and bases approval on meeting those standards.
a. “People expect nothing less than perfection from me”

3. Other-oriented: Degree to which one holds others to extremely high standards

Perfectionistic Striving:
- Drive
- Leave
- Motivated

Perfectionistic Concern:
- Desire
- Fear

The difference between perfectionistic striving versus perfectionistic concern is seen especially
critical in terms of determining whether perfectionism has positive or negative effects on the
individual

It is important for athletes and exercisers to distinguish between a healthy commitment to high
performance standards and unhealthy strivings associated with maladaptive/ unhealthy
perfectionism.

Perfectionism study
- Study looks to answer if there is a correlation of perfectionism with any of the Big Five
Personality Traits
- Study was done with through participants taking the Big Five Personality Test twice in a 5–8-
month timespan
- Self-oriented is more positive whereas socially prescribed perfectionism has a more negative
connotation.
- Results found that there was a correlation of perfectionism to conscientiousness and
neuroticism
o Conscientiousness showed significant positive correlations with self-oriented
perfectionism
 The traits of conscientiousness can also increase self-oriented perfectionism
over time
o Neuroticism showed significant positive correlations with socially prescribed
perfectionism.
o There were also findings and correlations with the other Big Five personality Traits,
but the results were rather inconsistent.

- Social Desirability Effect

o Looks at demonstrating oneself in more of a positive light, which is more likely to be
found when there is a lack of clarity in honest response.

Measuring Personality: a) Traits vs. b) States

Measure both traits and states

Trait State

- Typical style of behavior - Situation’s effect on behavior

- A “right now” feeling that can change
from moment to moment
- General < situation-specific (sport-
specific) measures. Situation- specific
trait tests predict behavior more
accurately than do general trait
measures

- It is often more effective to compare personality test scores to a person’s own previous test
results vs. to group norms.

Vigor: Represents a positive affective response to one’s ongoing interactions with significant
elements in one’s job and work environment that comprises the interconnected feelings of physical
strength, emotional energy, and cognitive liveliness.

Grit
- Initial evidence points to grit (perseverance and passion for long term goals) in predicting
athlete and exerciser performance and motivation.

- Type A: behavior patterns that are associated with cardiovascular diseases might be alterable
via exercise.

o Type A has been described as a behavioural pattern involving impatience and a sense
of time-related pressure, irritability, and a competitive drive

- Exercise and increased fitness appear to be associated with increases in self-esteem especially
in individuals with low self-esteem.