Physical Activity and Personality Traits

Abstract

The physical, psychological, and economic benefits of regular moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity are well substantiated. Unfortunately, few people in developed countries engage in enough physical activity to reap these benefits. Thus, a strong theoretical understanding of what factors are associated with physical activity is warranted in order to create effective and targeted interventions. Social/ecological approaches to understanding physical activity demonstrate the breadth of correlates that encompass intra-individual, inter-individual, environmental, and policy-related variables in physical activity performance. One longstanding intrapersonal correlate of interest is the relationship between personality traits—enduring individual-level differences in tendencies to show consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions—and physical activity. Personality trait theories are broad in focus and differ in terms of proposed etiology, yet much of the recent research in physical activity has been with super traits in the five-factor model: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Meta-analytic reviews suggest that conscientiousness and extraversion are positively associated with physical activity with some mixed evidence for a small negative relationship with neuroticism. The effect appears to be most pronounced with vigorous physical activities and less so with lower-intensity lifestyle activities and shows mixed evidence for whether proximal social cognitive variables (intention, self-efficacy) can mediate this relationship. More specific sub-traits show that facets of extraversion (excitement-seeking, activity) or conscientiousness (self-discipline, industriousness/ambition) have larger and more specific associations with particular types of physical activity or moderate key processes like the intention-behavior gap. Furthermore, personality appears to be linked to higher-intensity and adventure activities more than lower-intensity leisure physical activities. Contemporary longitudinal assessments of the bi-directionality of personality and physical activity have begun to advance our understanding of interconnectedness. Interventions that target personality traits to improve physical activity have been relatively understudied but hold some promise when used in tandem with larger theoretical approaches and behavioral change strategies.

Introvert and extrovert personality: Is it correlated with academic achievement of Physical Education, Health and Recreation students at university level?

“…Journal Sport Area http://journal.uir.ac.id/index.php/JSP Personality is one of the concepts in psychological science that is very important and is the key to the success or failure of students in undergoing academic activities both at the elementary school and at university level (Hakimi et al, 2011;Prakash, Singh, & Yadav, 2016). Personality basically has a meaning as a behavior, habit, nature, character, character which is the hallmark of an individual (Aşçi, Lindwall, Altintaş, & Edepli Gürsel, 2015;Rhodes & Boudreau, 2017). A person's personality is determined by two factors, namely heredity and environment, where both of these factors will play a role in producing a good or bad personality (Baro & Buragohain, 2014).…”

Identifyng the relationships between personality traits and non-cognitive skills

“…Learning and developing physical abilities involves engaging in actions whose levels of activity are high, but also an active lifestyle that allows them to crystallize those abilities. The superiority of the activity manifestation in the case of increased extraversion is a determining factor for initiation and involvement in physical activities ( Rhodes & Boudreau, 2019). Extraversion is positively associated with aerobic activities as well as the active environments of the activity unfolding such as swimming, dancing, or tennis, though there are no significant differences in other sporting activities such as running or cycling.…”

Healthy body, healthy mind: Long-term mutual benefits between classroom and sport engagement in children from ages 6 to 12 years

“…First, we found that, compared to girls who were reported as being less engaged by their teachers, girls who completed work on time and independently, demonstrated self-confidence, and were able to solve daily problems on their own were more likely to take part in physical activity in their leisure time, including sport. Practicing frequent physical activity, even during leisure time, requires self-discipline, especially during adolescence and adulthood ( Bogg and Roberts, 2004 , Rhodes and Boudreau, 2017 , Wilson and Dishman, 2015 ). Thus, girls who have developed and demonstrated self-discipline in the classroom may find it easier to engage in sport at age 12 years, a developmental period where such interest declines ( CFLRI, 2019 , Kemp et al, 2019 , Zimmerman-Sloutskis et al, 2010 ).…”