Personality and Age of Male National Team of Ukraine in Kyokushin Karate—Pilot Study

Abstract

This article is a continuation of the research on personality in combat sports in karate. The authors’ goal was to verify the relationship between personality and age of kyokushin karate practitioners. The male national team of Ukraine in karate kyokushin (N = 7) participated in the personality study with the use of the Big Five model. The NEO-FFI (NEO Five-Factor Inventory) Personality Questionnaire was applied as a research tool and the package of statistical methods IBM SPSS Statistics 27.0 (IBM Polska, Warszawa, Poland) was used to compute the research results. The study showed that there were differences in the intensity of openness to experiences between individual samples only at the level of the statistical trend. Masters showed a higher level of openness to experiences in relation to juniors (p = 0.081) and seniors (p = 0.097). Also, a negative and strong correlation between the intensity of neuroticism and conscientiousness among the respondents was noted. A conclusion was drawn that, with age, karatekas probably manifest greater openness to experience, which is the result of their sports experience, high sports level and pro-health values of karate. On the other hand, good emotional adaptation of karatekas is strictly related to conscientiousness.

Connections of bullying experienced by Kyokushin karate athletes with the psychological state: is “a Cure for Bullying” safe?

“…The duration of practising martial arts and higher qualifications are associated with better skills and greater self-control, self-esteem, and social skills ( 20 , 38 ). As discussed earlier, this should provide protection against bullying.…”

“…The fight takes place in close contact and allows blows to be inflicted with full force. The fight takes place without any protection (except for the suspension and the protector; for women, the chest protector)” [( 38 ) p. 36]. Athletes' qualification is evaluated according to the rank system from 10 (orange belt, the lowest) to 1 (brown belt with black stripe) Kyu and from 1 (black belt with one gold stripe) to 10 Dan (black belt with ten gold stripes, the highest).…”

“…It has been found that the use of mindfulness practice and higher qualification in sport led to better psycho-emotional and achievement indicators ( 20 ). Another study found that masters of sports were characterised by a higher level of openness to experience than younger athletes, which is related to experience and the influence of pro-health values of karate ( 38 ). However, compared with aikido, the highest negative indicators of personality traits according to social norms (aggression-hostility) came from the Kyokushin group ( 44 ).…”

“…Logistic regression with respect to athletes who experienced bullying vs. athletes who did not experience bullying. , self-esteem, and social skills(20,38). As discussed earlier, this should provide protection against bullying.…”

Big five personality as a part of talent detection: A review

“…A study conducted in Poland among athletes (n=1260) aged between 20 to 29 years showed that champions (n=118) scored very low in neuroticism trait, high on extraversion and Conscientiousness, and average in Agreeableness and Openness to experience (Piepiora & Piepiora, 2021) [16] . Piepiora et al (2022) [25] identify a relationship between the big five traits and sports experience in another study. They found a negative correlation between sports experience and neuroticism and a positive correlation between sports experience and the other four traits.…”