For this assignment I will explain the effect of personality and motivation on sports performance.

Introduction

Personality is the sum of a person’s individual characteristics that make him/her unique. (Adams et al, 2010) A person’s personality determines how they react in certain situations, their general mood and the consistency of it and their emotions. Personality can affect many aspects of sport right from the selection process because as well as raw talent, coaches need performers to have good mentality to be able to reach their required potential.

Personality theories

There are four main personality theories, these are the different ideas behind where individuals get there personalities from. I will explain three of
Materazzi apparently said something about his mother. This situation along with the high pressured environment he was in, cause him to react irrationally head-butting Materazzi in the chest resulting in him being sent off and inevitably losing the World cup final. An example of this having a positive effect on an Athlete would be David Beckham when he scored a last minute Free-kick against Greece to book England’s place in the 2002 World cup. I feel that this situation brought the best out in Beckham and he flourished under the pressure of England’s world cup hopes being solely in his hands.

In my opinion this theory can have a positive effect on Athletes as proven by David Beckham. The pressure of being the “only hope” can cause an athlete to excel in many ways and this may be due to a rush of adrenaline or athletes being at the peak of their mental toughness although some athletes can’t cope with such pressure. This can cause negative effects on their performance when athletes “crumble under pressure” Therefore I am torn whether this theory has a positive or negative effect on athletes.

Personality type A

There are said to be two different personality types, Type A and B. People with a type A personality are said to be those who do not cope well under stress and lack patience and tolerance. These people are said to be restless, aggressive, competitive, often feel