Differences in the Psychological Profiles of Elite and Non-elite Athletes

Abstract

One of the main goals of sport psychology is to identify those psychological factors that are relevant for sport performance as well as possibilities of their development. The aim of the study was to determine whether the set of specific psychological characteristics [generalized self-efficacy, time perspective, emotional intelligence (EI), general achievement motivation, and personality dimensions] makes the distinction between athletes based on their (non)-participation in the senior national team, that is, their belonging to the subsample of elite or non-elite athletes depending on this criterion. According to the group centroids it can be said that elite athletes are characterized by a positive high score in self-efficacy, emotionality, present fatalistic time perspective, past positive time perspective, and openness to experience. They are also characterized by low past negative time perspective, emotional competence, and future time perspective. Non-elite athletes have the opposite traits. The results have been discussed in the context of their application in the process of talent selection and development in sport as well as the development of life skills in athletes.

Features of Metabolic Support of Physical Performance in Highly Trained Cross-Country Skiers of Different Qualifications during Physical Activity at Maximum Load

“…The study showed that elite athletes with higher results at official competitions were characterized by a higher anaerobic threshold and maximal oxygen uptake. Compared to the group, the athlete was not elite, which is comparable to the literature data [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Personality characteristics and competitive anxiety in individual and team athletes

“…Based on the participant's feeling, each item was scored as hardly ever (1), sometimes (2), and often (3). The total scores were calculated and interpreted into three levels of anxiety including low (0-10), moderate (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), and high (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). The higher scores indicate the more risk of being anxious during the matches.…”

“…Previous researches have been studied personality characteristics in a variety of sports and found differences among types of sports [15,16], gender [12,17], race [18], skill level and experience [19]. Most studies have been investigated in the highly skilled athletes who were American or lived in Western countries.…”

Emotional Intelligence as a Predictor of Motivation, Anxiety and Leadership in Athletes

“…One of the main objectives of sport psychology is to identify those psychological factors that are relevant to sports performance, as well as the possibilities for their development [ 1 ]. Thus, within sport psychology, we find emotional intelligence to be one of the most novel concepts and lines of research of the 21st century, which nowadays is the subject to extensive popularity and research [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ] and understood as the emotional inter or intrapersonal response of an athlete [ 6 ].…”