Chapter 7

Personality and Exercise

Research Objectives of the Study of Personality

• Do certain personality attributes develop as a consequence of physical activity/exercise participation?

Personality Defined

• Underlying, relatively stable, psychological structures and processes that organize human experience and shape a person’s actions and reactions to the environment

• Individual’s unique but consistent psychological makeup

Structure of Personality(According to Hollander [1967])

• Personality core– Developed from early environmental interactions– Includes perceptions of external world and self, basic

attitudes, values, interests, and motives– Reflective of who we are; least amenable to change

• Typical responses to situations– Fairly predictable behaviors and reactions

• Role-related behaviors– Variable, daily behaviors influenced by the particular context

we are in– Most easily changed

(continued)

Person–Situation Debate• Person perspective or trait approach:

– Personality is derived from stable, enduring attributes that lead to consistent responses over time/situations

• Situation approach: – Behavior is best explained by individual’s reaction

to environment

• Debate led to the interactionist perspective to studying personality:– Both individuals and the situations in which they

find themselves are important in determining behavior

Biological Theories of Personality

• Constitutional theory (Sheldon, 1942)

• Individuals possess certain body types that predispose behavioral consistency:– Ectomorph: Tense, introverted, inhibited – Endomorph: Affectionate, sociable, relaxed– Mesomorph: Adventurous, dominant,

aggressive, risk-taking

Three Major Somatotypes

Trait Theories of Personality

• Emphasis is placed on the person rather than on the situation or the environment

• Traits are thought to reflect motivational systems that increase adaptation to positive or negative stimuli

• Three related theories:– Eysenck’s personality theory– Cattell’s personality theory– Five factor model

Traits vs. States

• Traits: – Relatively enduring dispositions that exert

a consistent influence on behaviors in a variety of situations; broad personality characteristics

• States: – The psychological reaction to the situation

in which an individual finds him- or herself

Eysenck’s Personality Theory

• Relationships between traits created the following dimensions– Extroversion–Introversion (E)– Neuroticism (Emotionality)–Stability (N)– Psychoticism–Superego (P)

• Few people possess the traits that reflect the far ends of the dimensions

• Most people fall somewhere between the extremes

Eysenck’s Framework and Exercise

• Leads to specific predictions in exercise setting for extroversion and neuroticism– Extroversion: Exercise could lead to increased

stimulation, and thus lead to adoption/adherence to exercise routine

– Neuroticism: Exercise might contribute to more stable, less neurotic personality

• Research shows that personality can change as a result of regular physical activity—reduced negative factors (neuroticism) and enhanced positive factors (extroversion)

Cattell’s Personality Theory

• Isolated 16 personality traits that he thought were the essence of personality

• 16 Personality Factor questionnaire (16PF)—used in sport personality and exercise studies

Cattell’s 16 PrimaryPersonality Factors

Cattell’s Personality Theory and Exercise

• Individuals with high levels of fitness would have lower anxiety and neuroticism; greater emotional stability, placidity, and relaxation

• Individuals with lower levels of anxiety and neuroticism would respond favorably to intense physical training

Five Factor Model

Individual Personality Traits

• Type A Personality

• Hardiness

Type A Behavior Pattern and Exercise

• Exercise has been shown to be effective in reducing this behavior pattern as well as cardiovascular disease (but results of studies are not uniform)

• Coronary-prone personality

• Anger/hostility are important features for increased risk of cardiovascular disease

Type A and B Behavior Patterns and Exercise

Hardiness and Exercise

• Characteristics:– Sense of control over events– Commitment, dedication, or involvement in

everyday life– Tendency to perceive life events as

opportunities

• Related to a tendency to engage in more healthful behaviors, such as exercise

• Not clear if a hardy personality leads to exercise, or if exercise leads to a hardy personality

Practical Recommendations

• Individuals who seem to be more emotional/neurotic might be encouraged to begin a regular exercise program– “Exercise dose” should be the same as

would be given to improve fitness and encourage weight loss

• Exercise programs should include some type of aerobic activity, since these activities influence personality factors

Your Viewpoint

• How would you match the type of exercise to the client’s personality?

• What if the individual also displays a number of type A behaviors?

Personality Matching*

Individuals who do not exercise regularly are likely to experience additional challenges or obstacles when they engage in activities that require them to behave differently from their customary patterns.

Beginning exercisers have one fewer barrier to success if they choose sports and fitness programs that are highly similar to their personality profiles.

*Gavin, J. (2004) Pairing Personality With Activity. Physician & Sportsmedicine, (32), 12, 1-9.

Does Compatibility Breed Compliance?

1. Greater hours of exercise participation

2. Higher degree of self-esteem & positive mood states

3. Greater exercise satisfaction

Seven dimensions pertinent to activity-based analyses.

• Sociability

• Spontaneity (degree of predictability)

• Self-motivation

• Aggressiveness

• Competitiveness

• Concentration

• Risk taking

Does Lap Swimming Match your Personality?

Low in sociability

Low in spontaneity

Highly internal

Low to moderate forcefulness

Low in competitiveness

Low in focus

Low in risk taking

Professional Practice

• Have the client choose an activity compare it to their perceived personality traits.

• Helps clients become more aware of how personal preferences correspond to different activities.

Personality & Rehabilitation

Personality Correlates During Injury Rehabilitation

• Neuroticism

• Explanatory Style

• Dispositional optimism

• Hardiness

• Over estimator

• Athlete Identity & Sense of Self

Maladaptive Behavior & Neuroticism

• Selective attention to the negative emotions to injury– Anger is exhibited (“I was not a nice person

when I was injured”)

• Tendency to rely on inefficient coping strategies– Denial, withdrawal, selfblame, emotional

venting, disengagement

Explanatory Style

• Pessimistic explanatory style– Personality caused:”It my own fault”– Stable over time: “I’m never going to play”– Global: “the rest of my life”

• Health effects– Immune system function– Poorer health

Dispositional Optimism

• Investigations are consistent– Cardiovascular and,– Immunological function is associated with

optimism(Peterson et.al, 1991;Scheiver & Carver, 1987)

• Optimism mitigates the stress-illness relationship

• Link between optimism and recovery

Hardiness

• “Constellation of personality characteristics that function as a resistance resource in the encountering of stressful life events”-Kobass, et. al. 1982. P. 169

• Components are– Commitment-strong beliefs in one own value– Challenge-views difficulties to over come– Control-sense of personal power

Hardiness Link

• Kobasa (1979) linked hardiness to physical health.

• Mechanism underlying hardiness seems to be cognitive appraisal and coping processes(Florian et al, 1995; Gentry & Kobasa, 1984)

Studies with Athletes

• Athletes who are high in neuroticism and pessimistic explanatory style display maladaptive behavior which results in longer rehab or incomplete recovery – Grove, Stewart & Gordon (1990) with athletes

with ACL damage– Grove & Bahnsen (1997) with 72 injured

athletes

Overestimators

• Athletes in general perceive injury as more serious than it really is when compared to the AT perception (Crossman & Jamieson, 1985)

• A group of athletes are overestimators experience greater pain, more anger, withdrawal, and show slow recover.

Informal Assessment

• One-to-one visit & pay attention to the athlete or client’s comments– Fear, sadness, embarrassment, guilt & anger,

feelings of being over whelmed by the demands of rehab—signs of neuroticism

• Ask the “why” statement….– Insight into athlete’s explanatory style

Implications

• Injured Pessimistic Athletes feel helplessness and depressed.– These athlete fail to follow recommended treatment

programs(especially unsupervised aspects).– Demonstrate a lack of persistence in the face of poor

or slow progress.

• Health professionals should offer advise in how to cope, prevent athletic isolation, & provide emotional support.

Sense of Self & Rehabilitation

Sense of Self

• If someone has only one basis for a sense of self, if that sense of self is threatened (injury), so will the entire person……Erikson, 1968

• If the athlete’s sense of self is threatened the athlete will view the injury as severe loss which results in anxiety, depression, or hopelessness (Brewer, 1993).

• Sense of self is similar to self-identity!

Self-Identity

• Defined as all of the people, things, and experiences that provide validation and a sense of worth (Brewer, 1993).– Social relationships– Career– School,– Sport,– Exercise,– Cultural activities, and etc..

Athletic or Exercise Identity

• If self- identity is based on one large and important piece and that piece is removed, people are left with limited avenues for satisfaction, enjoyment, and validation…

• Being an exerciser or athlete could a major piece.

Athletic or Exercise Identity

• Athletes and exercisers who are seriously involved

• Athletes and exercisers who over invest in exercise and sports involvement

• When injured these athletes and clients:– Lose sense of self or “If I am not an athlete, then who

am I?” “If I cannot get a workout in, my day is lost.”– Usually experience negative rehab, lack confidence in

their abilities to recover, lack motivation, experience high anxiety, and focus on injury.

What can be done?

• Maintain the athlete’s or exercise identity by:– Keep them involved in some form of sport or

exercise activity. – Maintain their fitness level by redirecting them

to another physical area such as weight training, swimming, etc.

– They need social validation • Athletes by coaches and teammates• Exercisers by personal trainer or significant others

Malingering Athlete

Malingerers

• Athlete or clients who lie about an injury to avoid practice or workout

• Pathological avoidance behavior– Cling to their symptoms and disabilities– Mimic disorders– Show pain and suffering on a moment’s notice

• Need for attention and fear of getting caught• Is the degree to which the drama is overdone

What is the cause?

• Behavior has been learned, adopted as acceptable, rewarded and is done willfully or habitually (Ogilvie & Tutko, 1966).– History(I.e. spoiled at an early age)– Learned at an early age that the parent would always

intervene or rescue them from trouble.– Modeling (I.e. parent, coach, sibbling, another athlete)– Very fearful of being exposed and is always on guard;

clings to dishonesty at all cost.

Interventions

• Give strictly defined boundaries of behavior and detail the consequences when stepping outside those boundaries.– Three strikes and your out!

• Establish and record specific rehab goals.– Agree upon times for treatment– Agree on the length of the program– Agree on the athlete’s responsibility

• Provide rewards early in rehab then once they comply vary the frequency of giving the reward.

That’s All Folks!!!

• HAVE A GREAT DAY

• READ THE CHAPTER ON STRESS…..