Abstract
The aim of this research was to examine whether psychological variables which make up basic dimensions of personality and self-esteem distinguish competitors in combat sports from competitors in team sports. The research included 149 respondents, aged 19 to 27 years. The Self-Esteem Scale questionnaire was used to measure self-esteem. The BFI inventory was used to measure personality traits according to the Big Five model: Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness to Experience. The basic research question is – does the set of psychological variables which make up basic dimensions of personality and self-esteem statistically significantly distinguish competitors in combat sports from the competitors in team sports? Both mean differences and simple discriminant function analyses for competitors in combat/team sports revealed that self-esteem, neuroticism, and conscientiousness were the most important factors distinguishing the two groups. Practical implications, limitations, and future research directions were discussed.
Highlights
The effects of psychology on sports performance have long been recognized, there are more and more psychologists and sports experts dealing with different research domains
In one study on Tunisian athletes (Ali et al, 2013), the results revealed that self-esteem was higher in a group of athletes participating in individual sports than in athletes participating in team sports, while aggressiveness was higher in team sports than in individual sports
Does the set of psychological variables which make up basic dimensions of personality and self-esteem statistically significantly distinguish competitors in combat sports from the competitors in team sports?
Summary
The effects of psychology on sports performance have long been recognized, there are more and more psychologists and sports experts dealing with different research domains. Their aim is to take a broader and deeper look at the latent factors of success and failure in sports. Coopersmith (1967) defines self-esteem as a set of qualities which an individual observes within himself/herself. Self-esteem is defined as respect for one’s own value and importance, as a willingness to be a responsible person and to behave responsibly toward others. Self-esteem appears when a person begins to appreciate and highly value his/her qualities or traits. Self-esteem is the result of evaluating one’s own value, i.e., the outcome of an evaluative orientation toward one’s innermost self; it is the level of belief in one’s own values, the power of belief in one’s own ideas and thoughts, as well as the depth of confidence in one’s own actions
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