Investigation of 30 Meter Sprint Performances with and without Finish Line in Athletes in Terms of Personality Traits

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate 30-metre sprint performances of athletes with and without finish line in terms of personality traits. A total of 61 male athletes with an age, height and body weight mean of 19.98±1.52 years, 173.16±.007 cm and 65.49±10.06 kg, respectively, voluntarily participated in the study. In order to achieve this aim, personality traits of athletes in different branches and 30-metre sprint values were measured twice. The first 30-metre sprint values were taken by suggesting "Think that the finish line is further ahead and do not decrease your speed when you approach the finish line". In the second 30-metre sprint, no suggestion was made to the athletes and the participants were asked to perform. After the measurements, running performances with and without a clear finish line were compared according to personality traits. Therefore, the effect of personality traits on compliance with suggestions and result-orientated behaviour in athletes was revealed. The "Ten-Item Personality Scale" developed by Gosling, et al. (2003) and adapted into Turkish by Atak (2013) was used to determine the personality characteristics of the participants. The 30-metre sprint values with and without the finish line were measured using a photocell. Statistical data were analysed with STATA 13 version. Structural Equation Modelling and Poisson Logistic Regression Analysis were applied to determine the relationship between the groups. As a result of the analyses, it was determined that the athletes with higher " agreeabeleness " sub-dimension had better 30-meter sprint values with the finish line and the athletes with higher "responsibility" sub-dimension had better 30-meter sprint values without the finish line. As a result, it can be stated that the participants with high agreeabeleness sub-dimension had a higher tendency to comply with the suggestions, while the participants with high responsibility sub-dimension had a lower tendency to comply with the suggestions.