The Effects of Stress and Anxiety on Sports Performance

Stress 
Stress is a demand that the environment takes place on an individual.

This occurs when there is a difference between what perceive is being demanded of you from the environment and what perceive your  are, when you perceive the outcome is important.

There's usually a pattern of negativity physiological states and psychological responses occurring in situations where people perceive threats to their well-being, which they might not be able to achieve.

There are two types of stress; eustress and distress.

Eustress is known as "good" stress and is a type of stress that some people want. This kind of stress is usually used in extreme sports, such as sky diving, bungee jumping, cliff diving, rock climbing, parkour and base jumping. They feel that it improves their performance, either because it helps them concentrate more or because it increases intrinsic motivation as they know they were able to deal with stressful situation.

Distress is known as "bad" stress and is a type of stress that some people don't want. This is most commonly known as stress. It's negative, most notably viewed by individuals as threatening and is bad for performance. It's an extreme form of anxiety, nervousness, apprehension or worry as a result of a perceived inability to achieve the demands placed upon ourselves.

The Stress Process
There are four stages to the stress process.

The first stage is the demand. For example, last free kick of the game. The performer will develop a perception of the demand.

The second stage is the perception of the demand by the athlete. The performer will either develop a positive perception, for example they might think the demand is within their capabilities, or they will develop a negative perception, for example they might think the demand is too much for them to handle.

The third stage is increased arousal levels. The perception is weighed up; if the performer has developed a positive perception, they will start to develop eustress, which will increase energy and intrinsic motivation. However, if the performer has developed a negative perception, the performer will develop distress, which will increase worry.

The last stage is the outcome. If the performer has an increased energy and intrinsic motivation, due to eustress, their performance will increase. However, if the performer has an increased worry, due to distress, their performance will decrease.

Symptoms of Stress
When you are in a situation where you find threatening, the response of stress is activated. The way that you respond depends on how serious you believe the situation is, and the response is controlled by the two nervous systems; the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for providing you with the energy you need to either face any threat or escape from any threat. The responses are that it will lead to an increase in; blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen uptake, sweat and breath rate, as well as a decrease in blood flow to the skin, muscles become more activated and dry mouth.

The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for helping you relax after when the stress has passed. The responses are that it will lead to a decrease in; heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen uptake and breath rate, as well as an increase in blood flow to the skin, the muscles become more relaxed, no more sweat and no more dry mouth.

There are also psychological and behavioural symptoms of stress. Stress can can make you feel worried, feeling overwhelmed, gives the inability to concentrate, make decisions and direct attention appropriately, as well as make you nail bite, pace, scowl, yawn and raise your voice.

Causes of Stress (Stressors)
There are four types of stressors; internal, external, occupational and personal.

Internal stressors are where you place difficult demands on yourself which can lead to stress. For example, you demand yourself to get an A in your exams, or you put pressure on yourself to complete all coursework in a week.

External stressors are when people set you demands that might be difficult to achieve which can lead to stress. For example, your boss expects you to work twelve hours every day, or your teachers' expects you to get As in most of your exams.

Occupational stressors are when things itself can cause stress. For example, working as a doctor can be very stressful, or the coursework can be very stressful.

Personal stressors are when anything personal to you can cause stress. For example, family can be stressful, or your health can be stressful.

The sport can also be a source of stress. For example, when you suffer an injury during a sports competition, and when try to return to full health, it can cause stress. Also, when your two points and your trying to tie up the game can cause stress. Also, when your team-mates are giving you a hard time for performing badly during the game can lead to stress.


Anxiety
Anxiety is a negative state that is either characterised by, or associated with feelings of nervousness, apprehension and worry. There are two forms of anxiety; cognitive and somatic anxiety.

Cognitive anxiety is the psychological responses of anxiety, so when people have feelings and fought of nervousness, worry, doubts and fears. The symptoms are when the athlete experiences high stress is likely to find their movements impaired. The athlete is outside of the peak flow state and performance will suffer, leading them to "choke".

Somatic anxiety is the physiological responses of anxiety, so when the body displays symptoms of sweating, increased heart rate and muscle tension. The symptoms are when attentional changes occur and this may adversely influence the information processing system. If the athlete experiences worry they won't be able to maintain their peak flow state, leading them to "choke".

State and Trait Anxiety
There are also two types of anxiety; state and trait anxiety.

State anxiety is an emotional response to a particular situation. It's characterised by feelings of nervousness and apprehension. It can be temporary.

Trait anxiety is an inbuilt (trait) part of the personality, which means you would have a tendency to be; fearful of unfamiliar situations, perceive competitive situations as threatening and act with apprehension and tension.

In a competitive situation, a performer with high trait anxiety is likely to produce high state anxiety, and performers with low high trait anxiety is not likely to produce high state anxiety.

In sports, there are many factors that can provoke anxiety. In football, there are three factors can provoke anxiety in footballers. One of the factors is the fear of failing/losing. For example, if an athlete was looking to win the FA cup final for the first time, they might fear that their going to lose the match and spoil the chance of winning the FA cup. Another factor is the fear of under-performing. For example, if a striker was aiming to score two goals in a match, they might fear that they won't be able to score, as well as fear of missing every shot. The final factor is pressure of the event. For example, if a footballer was playing at Wembley stadium, they might feel overwhelmed of the event, which can cause anxiety.

Effects of Anxiety on Sports Performance

As the graph shows, when the we get closer to the event, our somatic anxiety starts to increase with a lot of intensity as well as our symptoms. Once the event has started, our somatic anxiety will drop dramatically. Also, the graph shows as we get closer to the event, our cognitive anxiety and the symptoms will gradually increase, but a week before we will have a high level of cognitive anxiety. Once the event has started, our cognitive anxiety will decrease gradually for a few moments, but depending on yourself or how the event is going, we may start to develop a high level of cognitive anxiety, or it will decrease steeply. 

Anxiety can have a negative impact on sports performance in many different ways. If you are using skills that require concentration and steady nerves, in sports such as archery, shooting and darts, anxiety can cause poor performance as anxiety leads to reduced concentration and attention. If your using more simple skills, like throwing a ball, anxiety can still have negative impacts as it can cause hyper-elevated muscle tension, and decrease in coordination. 

However, anxiety can have positive impacts as well on sports performance. The body becomes activated due to anxiety, and this can cause an increase in breathe rate, heart rate and blood flow to the working muscles which is beneficial as more of these will increase oxygen inhaled and taken to working muscles, therefore can lead to good performance. However if the performer feels that this is happening because they are unable to achieve the demands to a given situation, they'll start to worry and the physiological symptoms will become negative. 

When an athlete is performing to their best, they are in their zone of optimal functioning, also known as peak flow. 

The characteristics of an elite athlete is somebody who experiences a peak flow, will have skills that are look effortless, automatic and fully controllable. Peak flow is likely to occur when there is high somatic anxiety and low cognitive anxiety. This means that the performer will feel happy and excited. 

There are four factors that can facilitate peak flow experience. One of them is anxiety. If cognitive anxiety is controlled, then the athlete has accessed their perfect zone of optimal functioning. 

The second factor is concentration. If optimal functioning has been met with low cognitive anxiety, then this will increase cue utilization. 

The third factor is attention style. Optimal arousal and controlled anxiety levels will help the athlete match their attention style so that they can achieve the demands of a situation. 

The last factor is confidence. Athletes with high confidence traits will most likely become confident in any situation and have high efficiency- expectations. 

The Effects of Arousal on Sports Performance

Arousal
Arousal is the degree of the physical or psychological readiness, the intensity of behavior. It can be the thought of an continuum from deep sleep to intense excitement.

It links with the levels of inner drives. Arousal must be under control and at the right amount depending on the task. The effects can be either positive and a raising level will increase readiness, or the effects will be negative and a raising level will cause worry and increase anxiety.


Hull's Drive Theory
According to hull, his drive theory states as arousal increases so does performance linearly. For example, if a boxer was to getting more aroused by his opponent, his performance starts to increase as more arousal leads to more aggression which is necessary for the performer.

At high arousal the performer is likely to revert to a dominant response. If the performer is in the autonomous phase of learning, their dominant response is likely to be correct, and if the skill is being performed is either a gross or simple skill, it's likely to be complete. For example, an experienced footballer will perform better at high levels of arousal, and be able to perform a perform a fake step. 

However, if the performer is in the cognitive phase of learning, they won't be able to cope with high levels of arousal and therefore their dominant response is likely to be incorrect. Also, if the skill being performed is a fine or complex skill, it's likely to be incomplete. For example, an inexperienced footballer will likely to perform badly at high arousal levels and fail to complete a rainbow flick.  

Therefore inexperienced performers should participate at lower levels of arousal. 

Yerkes' and Dodson's Inverted U Hypothesis 

According to Yerkes and Dodson, their theory states as arousal levels increase so does performance but only to an optimum point. 

Optimum point is at moderate levels of arousal. If arousal is too high then performance will start to decline, as well as under arousal will lead to poor performance. For example, if a football player has been aroused by being tackled, it will make him work hard to try and get the ball back and make a challenge, however if the player gets too aroused, it will make the player go in for a tackle from behind, it will injure the opposing player and the player will get sent off, however if the player is lacking arousal, the player wouldn't have that drive to try and get the ball back and letting his man get away with the ball, leading to poor performance.

The theory is modified depending on the ability, skill or performer. The performer in the cognitive stage achieves optimum performance with lower levels of arousal. Performers in autonomous stage achieves optimum performance with higher levels of arousal. For example, the optimum point of an experienced basketball player will be higher, whilst the optimum point of a rookie will be lower. 

The theory is modified depending on the task. Fine or complex skills are performed most effectively at lower levels of arousal; gross or simple skills are performed most effectively at higher levels of arousal. For example, the cross over skill in basketball is a simple skill that's effective when arousal levels are low. 

The theory is modified depending on the personality of the performer. Extrovert performers achieve optimum performance at higher levels of arousal; Introvert performers achieve optimum performance at lower levels of arousal. For example, an excited and energetic performer will achieve optimum point in higher levels of arousal in basketball than quiet and moody players. 

Inverted U doesn't explain sudden decrease in performance. 

Yerkes' and Dodson's Catastrophe Theory

This theory is quite similar to the inverted U hypothesis. According to Yerkes and Dodson, their theory states as arousal levels increase so does performance but only to an optimum point.

As arousal increases, so does performance, but only to an optimum point. Once arousal increases after the optimum point, performance will catastrophically decline steeply. However, this process can be reversed; if arousal decreases then performance will start to increase, returning to the optimum point.They can do decrease arousal by calming themselves down and thinking positive .For example, a football player who is highly aroused messes up in attempting to perform a rabona and gives the ball away and they concede a goal leading to an instant drop in performance, but then the player calms down and starts using simpler skills.  

The theory is modified depending on the ability, skill or performer. The performer in the cognitive stage achieves optimum performance with lower levels of arousal. Performers in autonomous stage achieves optimum performance with higher levels of arousal. For example, the optimum point of an experienced rugby player can be achieved with higher levels of arousal, whilst the optimum point will be achieved with lower arousal levels for inexperienced rugby players. 

The theory is modified depending on the task. Fine or complex skills are performed most effectively at lower levels of arousal; gross or simple skills are performed most effectively at higher levels of arousal. For example, the cross over skill in basketball is a simple skill that's effective when arousal levels are low. 

The theory is modified depending on the personality of the performer. Extrovert performers achieve optimum performance at higher levels of arousal; Introvert performers achieve optimum performance at lower levels of arousal. For example, an excited and energetic performer will achieve optimum point in higher levels of arousal in basketball than quiet and moody players. 

Eastbrook's Cue-Utilization 

Cue utilization is the process of attending to the correct environmental cues, facilitating maximum attention control, allowing efficient decision making and effective performance to take place. 

This theory suggests that the level of arousal and the style of attention used will determine the amount of information taken. 

If there is low arousal, the attention field of the performer will widen massively, selective attention won't be able to work which will lead to a decrease in focus and concentration. A condition of information overload will exist which will impede efficient decision making and reduce the likely hood of good performance. 

If there is over arousal, the attention field of the performer will narrow massively, selective attention won't be able to work and detection of relevant cues will be impaired. A condition of hyper-vigilance will exist, impeding efficient decision making and reduce the likely hood of good performance. 

If there is optimal arousal, the attention field will change to the right width and selective attention will be able to detect relevant environmental cues. This ensures efficient decision making, and increase the likely hood of good performance. 

For example, levels of arousal and cue utilization will effect a 100m sprinter. 

If the sprinter had under arousal, then the attention field will widen, which will lead to lower concentration and will pay attention to the irrelevant cues, for example the sprinter will focus on the crowd. Also, the sprinter's selective attention will decrease and won't be able to focus on the sprint and the stimulus. As a result, cue utilization will decrease and becomes less focused, so the sprinter will have a slower reaction time due to paying attention to the crowd and not the pistol. This will increase information overload. 

If the sprinter had over arousal, then the attention field will narrow, which will lead to a state of hyper-vigilance which will prevent the sprinter from selecting relevant cues, for example the pistol. As a result, cue utilization will decrease and reaction decreases and miss the cue.  

If the sprinter had optimal arousal, then they will be able to concentrate and the attention field will adjust to relevant cues, for example the pistol. This will lead to an increase of selective attention, so they will be able to concentrate on the pistol more, and as a result increases cue utilization. 

There are many cognitive techniques that can be used to assist concentration. You can use imagery, mental rehearsal and relaxation. These techniques can be used to help focus the mind of athletes to a specific task, they can help reduce stress and can also manage anxiety in a productive way. You can also use trigger words, like "eye on the ball", create a set of routines, play distracting games during training and use the four types of attention focus and use cues to trigger concentration. 

If there is over arousal, these techniques can reduce arousal to an optimal point, which will increase performance. If there is under arousal, these techniques can build arousal in a controllable matter, to an optimal point and increase performance. If there is optimal arousal, these techniques can help increase concentration, which will increase performance. 

The Effects of Motivation on Sports Performance

Motivation

Motivation is our personal inner drive to achieve a set goal and depends on external rewards or pressures. it concerns the intensity (arousal) and direction of a performer's behaviour. In other words, motivation is the reason why you would want to complete the task.

Motivation is responsible for: the selection and preference for an activity, the persistence at an activity, and the effort put into a performance.

Motivation has two branches:

• Intensity of Behaviour - the degree of strength of emotion. 
• Direction of Behaviour - the response made as a result of emotion. 

Types of Motivation

There are two types of motivation: Intrinsic and Extrinsic. 

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is what comes from within, the strongest motivation, the personal drive to succeed. It relates to the athlete's own perceptions, attitudes and understanding of their circumstances. Enjoyment of the performance, satisfaction of performance, pride and feeling of well-being. For example, Loosing weight by going to the gym gives you a satisfaction. 

This type of motivation will maintain participation for a longer period of time than extrinsic methods, and therefore is more efficient in promoting participation in physical activity in the long term. However, some performers find it difficult and require new challenges constantly to continue participation. Often this is seen as less significant at elite levels of performance. 

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation is the rewards that prevail from sport such as trophies, praise from a coach. Feelings coming rewards externally derived (from outside the performer). There are two types of rewards: tangible and intangible. Tangible rewards are prizes, awards. For example, receiving a gold medal in long jump. Intangible rewards are praises and recognition from others. For example, a basketball player getting praise from his team-mates for scoring a 3 point shot. 

This type of motivation attracts performers to the sport to begin with and is therefore a useful strategy for cognitive performers. It raises their confidence and increases participation, meaning they're more likely to participate in a physical activity. However, this should be used sparingly, especially with young performers, as they may begin to only perform for rewards, rather than intrinsic motivation, losing enjoyment and satisfaction gained from performing. Ultimately, for these performers, withdrawing extrinsic rewards can lead to total withdrawal from participation. 

Factors Contributing to Motivation

Coaches should try and encourage performers to set personal goals and try to generate intrinsic motivation whenever possible.

There are many ways in which a coach can promote a motivational environment. The coach can:

• set fun activities because they're enjoyable and gives satisfaction. 
• create a social experience because if young people meet other people and enjoy it, it encourages them to participate. 
• set attainable targets because targets and goals that are met during learning will enhance motivation. 
• help improve skills and fitness because if people feel that fitness levels are improving or skills are being perfected, then they're more likely to continue with the sport. 
• help find role models for performers to look up to because young people are more likely to copy more successful sports players. 
• transfer skills because if new skills are built on previous learned skills, they don't seem difficult. 
• improve progress because learners are inspired if sports participation is leading to personal benefit. 
• give positive reinforcement because learners that are praised by others will be encouraged to participate. 

There are many factors that can affect motivation of an individual. These are the factors:

• Type A and Type B personality traits - according to trait theory, people with type A personality traits are more motivated than those with type B
• Situation - according to situation theory, levels of motivation are dependent on the environment the performer finds themselves. 
• Interaction of personality and situation - interactive theory suggests that combination of personality traits and situation determines motivation levels. 
• Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards - intrinsic rewards are from within and extrinsic rewards are intangible and tangible. Intrinsic are stronger than extrinsic.

Theories of Motivation

Drive Reduction Theory

This theory highlights the importance of maintaining motivation levels, especially with young performers. if they lose their drive or motivation, it has negative effects on their ability to lead a balanced healthy lifestyle. They may become disaffected and lead a sedentary lifestyle. 

First, the performer will have a strong desire to learn a new skill. The drive or motivation to satisfy the need to learn the skill is applied. When the skill is mastered and learning has been accomplished, the drive or motivation to continue to work at the skill is reduced. This process then repeats from the drive or motivation to satisfy the need to learn the skill is applied, and goes on and on in a cycle until the performer has no more drive or motivation. 

Performers have an initial drive or motivation to succeed at a task. Their drive means they will practise the skill until it's accomplished. As a result of their success, motivation levels decrease, they no longer practise the skill, and ultimately may lead to a reduction in drive. A new task or skill must be presented to the performer in order to renew their drive. 

For example, a football team wins the barclays premier league, now they set a new target, which is to win the UEFA champions league.

Achievement Motivation 
Achievement motivation is the desire to succeed without the fear of failure.

Achievement motivation is generally regarded as the psychological need to succeed or achieve mastery. Levels of achievement motivation vary between different individuals. As a theory, achievement motivation attempts to explain why performers behave in certain ways when faced with specific tasks. The theory tries to bring together an understanding of personality and competitiveness.

According to McCelland and Atkinson,  each individuals have underlying motives which can be categorized into two: need to achieve (NAch) and need to avoid failure (NAf).

The characteristics of sports performers that have a need to achieve are:

• happy to be evaluated by others
• happy to receive feedback
• happy to face challenges - often bigger and better
• often optimistic
• believe failure is a learning experience and don't mind experiencing it
• happy to take risks
• persevere in the face of difficulties
• happy to take on 50-50 situations
• gain a particular sense of pride and satisfaction when they succeed.

For example, footballer Dimitri Payet would happily take the free kicks, he likes the challenge of trying to score from it and feels great when he does score a free kick. 

The characteristics of sports performers that have a need to avoid failure are those who:

• worry about failure but worry about the subsequent evaluation 
• don't like personal feedback
• tend not to persevere and often give up easily
• attribute failure to internal factors 
• often choose easy tasks to avoid any potential of failure and evaluation
• tend to avoid 50-50 situations
• are demotivated by failure and their performance deteriorates quickly when it occurs.

For example, footballer Memphis Depay has an opportunity to score, he worries that he's going to miss and not score, he's been tackled for holding the ball too long and his performance drops as he's demotivated as he failed to score. 

Performers who display NAch motives, who persist and enjoy evaluation, tend to have approach behavior patterns. They are motivated to attempt challenging and competitive situations and wil subsequently gain high levels of pride and satisfaction when they concede. 

Performers who display NAf motives tend to have avoidance behavior patterns, often opting to for easy tasks to protect their self-esteem while not persisting in the face of failure. Coaches of elite performers will try to install approach in their athletes, to encourage competitiveness, drive and task persistence.  

Attribution Theory
Attribution theory is the reasons that someone gives for their or someone's success or failure after competition, helping us to understand their actions and motives.

The correct use of attribution is vital: a coach must evaluate feedback effectively if they wish to maintain the athlete's level of performance, task persistence, satisfaction of performance and future expectations.

According to Weiner's model, there are four types of attribution for achievement. They are: ability, effort, task difficulty and luck.

In Weiner's model, there are three dimensions that he place the four attributes. The firs dimension is the locus of causality (the reason is within our control/internal or out of control/external). The second dimension is the locus of stability (the reason is permanent/stable or forever changing/unstable). The third dimension is the locus of control (this dimension refers to internal control/things within an athletes control or external control/things out of an athletes control).

For example, in a post match interview after winning a fight against Connor McGregor in March 2015, Nate Diaz said that his speed, well-timed strikes and good awareness to the situation is what won him the fight, so he attributes his success to internal, stable factors (ability).

Another example, in a post match interview after losing a fight against Royce Gracie in February 2015, Ken Shamrock said that Gracie shouldn't have won the match and should've got disqualified for a low blow, so he attributes his failure to external, unstable factors (luck).

As a coach, you should always attribute failure to external, unstable or uncontrollable factors (task difficulty, luck or effort) as this allows the athlete to believe that changes can be made to improve his or her performance. this helps to maintain motivation and is known as self-serving bias. This is when an athlete is saying "When I win it's all down to me and my efforts" (good for confidence).

As a coach, you want your athletes to maintain high levels of motivation and confidence and to learn from their mistakes, so it's essential that a coach uses attributions effectively. In order to achieve this, a good coach will attribute success to internal, stable or controllable factors (ability), ensuring that the athlete is satisfied with his or her performance and maintains task persistence and motivation levels.

When an athlete has an injury, repeatedly loses a match to the same opponent or attributes failure to internal, stable factors (ability) they may start to believe that no matter how hard they try, failure is inevitable, and as a result they begin to lose confidence and motivation. Even when they are successful, some athletes believe that this was due to luck and that their success will not be repeated. A coach can help athletes overcome feelings of learned helplessness and make them successful by effectively using attributions. This process is known as attribution retraining. Coaches who wish to use attribution retraining should ensure that when an athlete achieves success they:

• attribute success to stable and internal factors (ability)
• attribute failure to unstable and external factors (luck, task difficulty and effort)
• improve self-esteem, confidence and motivation

The Effects of Personality on Sports Performance

Personality 

Personality is a combination of characteristics and qualities that make someone unique.

It's very important that coaches know a players personality for many reasons. One is that it helps coaches understand what type of training is most suitable to the players so that they can train better and perform better in their sport. Another being is that players relate better to those who understand them. Finally, coaches that are able to understand their players' behavior can make them predictable and easier to handle.

There are two types of viewpoints of the influence of personality on sports performance: Credulous and Sceptical.

The credulous viewpoint is that personality assessments can be used to predict sporting success. People who have a credulous viewpoint believe that traits can predict sporting success.

The sceptical viewpoint is that personality assessments are limited in predicting the chances of sporting success. People who have a sceptical viewpoint are those who don't believe that personality traits predict success.


The Trait Perspective of Personality

The trait perspective is a theory that people are born with established characteristics. This means that the traits that people have are innate (Born with same traits as parents), stable (how predictable their behavior is) and enduring (long lasting).

To be more specific, the trait theory suggest that a personality trait is genetically inherited. A trait is durable and consistent in a given situation. The trait theory suggests that behavior is predictable and views behavior as being more predictable than it really is. The trait theory doesn't take into account that people adapt their behavior in response to a given environmental situation.


Eysenck's Personality Inventory (EPI)
Eysenck's theory is a specific theory of the trait perspective.

The EPI groups personality traits into two dimensions or scales: Introvert to Extrovert and Stable to Neurotic. Eysenck used a questionnaire to measure traits, known as the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and it would arrange the findings on a two-dimensional model, where the model has four categories: stable extrovert (someone who shows lively, sociable and leader qualities), neurotic extrovert (someone who shows aggressive, impulsive and active qualities), stable introvert (someone who shows calm, passive and controlled qualities) and neurotic introvert (someone who shows moody, unsociable and quiet qualities). A stable introvert would be best suited to situations that involves teamwork, for example a line of defense in football. A neurotic extrovert would be best suited to situations involving hostility, for example a fight in hockey. A stable introvert would be best suited in controlled situations, for example a free throw in basketball. A neurotic introvert wouldn't be best suited in a lot of sport situations. for example, being a captain for a football team.

Girdano's Narrow Band Theory of Personality 
Girdano's theory is another specific theory of the trait perspective.

The narrow band theory believes that there are two types of personalty: type A and type B.

Type A personality is characterized 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 A personality would be useful when in football, a player needs to score before the time runs out to win the match, so he needs a very strong desire to win, work at a rapid pace and make a decision quickly without too much thought.

Type B personality is characterized by: patient and relaxed, 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. Type B would be useful as well in football when a player needs to score from a free kick in order to win the match, so the player has to be relaxed, patient, calm, assesses all options and unflappable in the situation.

In terms of sports, type A personality would be more suitable than type B, because type A is more competitive than type B.

Cattell's 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire
Raymond Cattell believes that personality could be best explained by a model that has sixteen personality traits, using a statistical procedure known as factor analysis. He then created and promoted the 16PF Questionnaire. This test uses a public domain scales from the International Personality Item Pool to measure the same traits. The traits are warmth, reasonable, emotionally stable, dominant, lively, rule-conscious, socially bold, sensitive, vigilant, abstract, private, apprehensive, opened to change, self-reliant, perfectionist and tense. Each trait is given a score of 0-4, 0 meaning you show none of this trait, and 4 meaning you clearly show this trait. 

Each trait is best suited to some situations. For example, a captain in football needs to be dominant when a teammate makes a very bad mistake, so he needs to tell the player to stop worrying and continue playing the game. Another example, a shooting guard in basketball needs to be opened to change his style of play as his current style of play isn't working against a player marking him, so instead of dribbling all the time he needs to pass the ball more and try and find space for an open shot. Another example, a mixed martial arts fighter needs to be abstract when his opponent is able to predict most of his actions, so the fighter, instead of just doing simple jabs and front kicks, he can change his style by going for take downs, back kicks, high knees or anything he doesn't normally use in his other fights. 

Evaluation of the Trait Perspective
What's good about the trait perspective is that it has many trait theories which measures and identifies a wide range of traits each person could possibly have.

However, the problem with the trait theories is that it doesn't confirm whether the traits exist or not, and it has a lack of sophistication. 


Social Learning Theory of Personality
The social learning theory, or situation approach, believes that personality is determined by the environment and the experiences a person has as they grow up. This sees personality as the result of being nurture or upbringing. #

There are two mechanisms of learning, modelling and social reinforcement. Modelling is when we observe and imitate the behavior of significant others. Social reinforcement is when if the behavior is praised or rewarded positively, it is more likely that it will be repeated. 

Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment
Bandura had an experiment where 66 nursery children were divided into 3 groups. All groups will watch a short film of an adult (the model) punching and kicking the bobo doll. However, each group will see a different condition. One group will see a condition where an adult was praising the model for his behavior. Another group will see a condition where an adult was punishing the model for his behavior. The final group will see the last condition where the model was neither being punished or rewarded for his behavior. After observing the behavior of the model, the groups of children were allowed to go in the play room with the doll. The children that watched the model being praised by an adult, imitated the behavior of the model and attacked the doll. Most of the children that saw the model being punished by the adult, didn't imitate the behavior will the rest did. Finally, half of the children who didn't see the model being rewarded or punished imitated the behavior, whilst the other half didn't.

The social learning theory has a relevance to sports because this is mostly likely to happen to children who like to play the sports and watch their favorite players compete. For example, a 12 year old boy plays for a football team. He also watches and supports Barcelona football club and his idol is Lionel Messi. One time, the boy sees Messi get into a tangle with the opposing player and Messi is being aggressive towards the player, whilst the fans are cheering Messi for his behavior. After observing Messi's behavior and observing the praise of the behavior, the child believes that the behavior is completely acceptable. When the child plays in a match and gets into a similar situation with an opposing player, the child imitates Messi's behavior and gets aggressive.

Evaluation of Social Learning Theory 
What's good about the theory is that is gives us an understanding of why people behave in certain ways, due to past experiences and observations. However, the problem with social learning theory is that it doesn't take into account personality traits are innate dispositions. Also, the situation approach is difficult to use to predict behavior and analyse why some people are more successful than others. Finally, the theory isn't a true predictor of behaviour.




The Interactionist Theory of Personality
The interactionist theory believes that personality is natured and nurtured. Interaction is a combination of trait and social learning. Traits are triggered by the environment, personalities can change in different situations, typical responses are influenced by the situation and behaviour is unpredictable and is a product of circumstances.


Hollander's Personality Structure
Hollander proposed that personality has three levels that interact to form personality: Psychological core, Typical Response and Role-Related Behaviour.


The psychological core is the centre of personality, it's known to be stable and remains relatively constant over time, and believes and values will be more or less permanent. that For example, a sportsman's belief that fair play underlies his attitude on the field playing.


Typical Response is changeable and learned behaviours. They become modified as the person responds to the environment. For example, stopping fighting at the bell.


Role-related behaviour is dynamic and changeable. An individual adjusts to fulfil many different roles. In other situations we may behave differently. For example, striking after the bell when annoyed or frustrated.


Profile of Mood States (POMS)
The profile of mood states is a questionnaire that was created by Morgan and would be completed before the competition. It's based on the proposition that an individual with positive mental health will more likely succeed in a sporting situation. Morgan showed that if an athlete can exhibit the trait of vigour above the populations norms and all other traits below the population norm then their chances of success are greatly enhanced. This is known as the iceberg profile.


The traits of the iceberg profile are tension, depression, anger, vigour, fatigue and confusion.
Elite athletes will have a low level of tension, depression and confusion and a high level of vigour. Unsuccessful athletes will have a high level of tension, depression, fatigue and confusion and low level of vigour.


Each trait affects performance. If a player is tense then they won't be able to think clearly and would make bad decisions. For example, If basketball player needs to make a pass, he'll try and pass the ball to a player who is behind an opposing player who would then intercept the pass, therefore the passing player would concede a turnover.


If a player has a high level of depression, they would have a lot of self-doubt and more likely feel like they can't do anything good in a game, which would destroy their performance. For example, a football player has so much levels of depression, when he's through on goal and has a good chance of scoring, he doesn't think he can score and passes it back to a teammate, only for the defense and midfield to come back and  defend the goal, therefore the player has wasted an opportunity.


If a player has a high level of anger, they would get frustrated easily and would want to take their anger out on someone or something and get punished in the end. For example, when a football player feels frustrated because they conceded a goal and is losing the match, that frustration turns to anger and attempts to hurt the opposing player by making a bad tackle, and because of the that the ref gives a red card and gets sent off.


If a player has a high level of fatigue, they wouldn't be able to perform as great as they normally would and their performance would drop. For example, if a marathon runner had so much fatigue, they wouldn't be able to run any longer and wouldn't be able to finish the marathon.


If a player had a high level of confusion, they wouldn't know how to play the sport and their performance would decline. For example, if a football player didn't understand what the offside rule was and tried to pass it to a teammate who was offside, the linesman would call it and give the ball away.


If a player had a higher level of vigour, then the player will be more likely to do better in their sport.
For example, if a basketball player had a higher level of vigour, then he would have a lot more energy to play longer in the game and a lot of effort to try and perform better in the game.

Evaluation of the Interactionist Theory
The interactionist theory is believed to be the most realistic approach, and the reasons being is because combines trait and social learning approach, it takes into account that different situations produce different patterns of behavior, and it's more likely that traits interact with the environment to predict personality.