Sports Psychology

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Sports Psychology

• Introduction to the courseand
• Personality

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Introduction
Within 18 months of Roger Bannisters famous
breakthrough 16 other athletes had achieved the 4
minute mile. Did these athletes suddenly get
faster and train harder? No the floodgates
opened because Bannister had breached the
psychological barrier and demonstrated what was
possible. Athletes were no longer limited by
their beliefs.

• Sport psychology is a powerful tool in modern
  sport.
• It is used as a way to optimise performance.
• Matches, races and competitions can be won or
  lost due to an athletes Concentration,
  Commitment, Control and Confidence.

The 4Cs
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Todays content

• Introduce Sports Psychology and aims of the
  course.
• Understand the term personality, its
  characteristics and what it influences.
• Trait theory. Cattell and Eyesnck

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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.

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DEFINITION

• Personality is the sum total of an individuals
  characteristics which make him unique
  (Hollander, 1967)

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It has a strong influence on

• Perception
• The interpretation an individual gives to
  environmental information.
• E.g ? A player who makes a mistake may act
  aggressively to an opponent who is smiling.
• Cognition
• The process of thought.
• E.g. ? An tennis player with an erratic
  personality may try too many extreme shots when
  playing tennis.

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The Structure Of Personality (Hollander)
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• Psychological core
• Beliefs and values that remain fairly permanent
• e.g. the value of fair play in sport
• Typical responses
• The way in which we usually respond in certain
  environmental situations. Usual indicate your
  psychological core. Not always.
• e.g. stopping play when we hear the referees
  whistle
• Role related behaviour
• In certain situations we may behave quite
  differently. Wearing different hats!
• e.g. As a player we may argue with the referee
  even if we have committed a foul, but as a
  student if you broke the rules would never argue
  with a teacher!
• Social environment
• The behaviour and expectations of others affect
  our role related behaviour
• e.g. we argue with the referee because we have
  seen others get away with it

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The four psychological theories of how behaviour
is formed

• Psychodynamic theory
• Trait theory
• Social learning theory.
• Interactionist theory.

TypicalExamFocus
REMEMBER ? PIST!!!! As in the ski slope
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TRAIT APPROACH
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• A trait ? is a characteristic of personality
  which is inherited at birth.
• Personality is a product of nature.
• Enduring characteristics that individuals take
  to all situations. NEVER CHANGES!
• Trait theory based on the work of Eysenck and
  Cattell

B F(p)Behaviour Function of Personality
Equation
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Cattell (1965)

• Identified 16 main groups of personality factors
  that he believed described every person.
• Made a questionnaire which assessed the level of
  theses traits that a person shows.
• 16PF Qustionnaire Complete this questionnaire
  online and see how you measure.

What are your thoughts on this?
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Catell (1965) identified 16 groups of traits
which he claims are present in all people at
varying degrees of intensity.

To test this, Catell designed a test called the
Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF
test) Have a go here
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My results
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Primary Trait
Extrovert
Secondary Traits
Enthusiastic
Adventurous
Group Dependent
Sociable
Confident
Traits are arranged in hierarchical form with the
primary or strongest overriding weaker or
secondary traits
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Primary Trait
Introvert
Secondary Traits
Shy
Self Sufficient
Reserved
Timid
Aloof
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EYSENCK AND CATTELLS HIERARCHICAL MODEL
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EYSENCKS PERSONALITY TRAIT DIMENSIONS

• WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
• PERSONS TYPES A - B - C - D?

• A
• stable extrovert
• talkative, outgoing, easy going, carefree,
  showing leader qualities

• B
• neurotic extrovert
• restless, aggressive, excitable, changeable

• C
• neurotic introvert
• anxious, sober, rigid, pessimistic

• D
• stable introvert
• careful, thoughtful, controlled, reliable, even
  tempered

Give a sporting example of each personality type
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What personality type??
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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

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Limitations to this approach

• See traits as more fixed and long lasting than
  they really are.
• Have been not been very useful in consistently
  predicting behaviour. Can be unreliable.
• Fail to take into account the effect of a
  situation on an individuals behaviour or
  attitudes.

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To Recap

• Personality is unique and determines the way we
  respond to the environment.
• There are four main theories which explain how
  personality can affect behaviour.
• Trait Approach Personality is a product of
  nature.Innate forces or instincts causing an
  individual to always behave in a certain way.
• BF(P)
• Cattell ? 16PF
• Eysenck ? Extroverted, Introverted, Stable,
  Neurotic
• Drawbacks unreliable predictor of behaviour.
  Doesnt take into account situation.

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SOCIAL LEARNING

• Behaviour is learned from others that are
  significant
• A soccer player might learn behaviour on the
  field (diving to obtain a penalty, or strutting
  and exhibitionism after scoring) from observing
  top players
• Social learning theory is based on the work of
  Bandura

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INTERACTIONIST

• A mixture of trait and social learning
• Behaviour is a result of the interaction of
  personality traits and the environment
• B f (p,e)
• e.g. a soccer player may be an introvert after
  the game but reveals extrovert qualities during
  the game

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STABLE

• Behaviour is predictable
• e.g. a golfer who has an even temperament in
  most situations

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NEUROTIC

• Behaviour is unpredictable, often involving mood
  swings
• e.g. a soccer player who tends to fly off the
  handle if things are not going their way

Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer fighting each other
(Newcastle v Aston Villa. 2005)
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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

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TYPE A

• QUESTION Would a rugby player have a type A
  personality?

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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

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TYPE B

• QUESTION Would a gymnast have a type B
  personality?

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EXTROVERSION

• Affiliates to other people
• Seeks out social situations
• e.g. a hockey player who likes to socialise
  after a game

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INTROVERSION

• Avoids social situations
• e.g. a rugby player who sits quietly after a
  game and seems very shy

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