You have now been introduced to all of the personality traits that make up the “Big Five”, and thus come together to form a complete picture of someone’s personality.  To recap, these traits are: openness (to experience), conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, and extroversion. They are measurable traits in which the individuals that express them present with many common characteristics and sub-traits.  The idea that expression of these personality traits directly relates to athletic performance is not new, and many studies analyzing this hypothesis show that there certainly are correlations between some of these traits and a number of variables surrounding athletics.  Some of the traits correlate directly with performance while others are distinctly more present in athletes vs. non-athletes.  Some are shown to be beneficial for team sports but might be disadvantageous for individual sports and vice versa.  The list of correlations goes on and on.  The more we look into this relationship between personality characteristics and high level athletics, the more we will be able to pinpoint the ideal athlete personality profile.  

The traits, and the extent to which an individual possesses them, can be presented on a scale as opposed to simply expressing the trait or not.  They are continuous as opposed to absolute.  As such, they can be ranked and scored, allowing for increased accuracy in personality profiling and in figuring out the correlations.  What this leads to is: 1. The ability to quantitatively build the preferred personality background for a player.  This doesn’t just mean using the data to construct the ideal overall athlete.  This could be by type of sport, position, situation, or even for coaches to profile for players with personality traits that they prefer from a personal level. Coaches differ, and one way they do is by the types of players they look for (in both skill and personal qualities). 2. The ability to assay prospective players as part of tryouts, showcases, combines, etc.  

Coming off of point #2, and relating back to the previous article in which I eluded to the future presence of personality assessments as important measures in high level athletics, we are seeing this strategy arise and become more and more popular.  The future is now.  These athlete personality evaluations are being implemented all over and are being utilized in a variety of ways.  The realization that an athlete’s personality background is another valuable and measurable skillset has occurred.  External psychological factors and coaching have been accepted as a critical aspect of an athlete’s performance and development for a while now, so it’s about time that the internal psychological factors start taking the stage.

In 2010, a group of Canadian researchers published the results of a 15-year study on NHL players. The players involved in the study were given a personality assessment prior to their being drafted into professional hockey.  15 years later their hockey careers were analyzed and the results showed that those who scored highly on the personality test had more accomplishing NHL careers.1  They concluded that personality tests could be a prediction of athletic success.  It should come as no surprise that today, a part of the NHL Scouting Combine includes a psychological evaluation/interview that places an emphasis on personality.

The NHL is certainly not the only professional league to buy into this approach.  The NFL is another example.  While for years, certain teams utilized their own forms of personality assessment on prospects, just recently the NFL Combine has added a mandatory personality assessment in which they have outlines for the preferred traits by position. This assessment is calle the Player Assessment Tool (PAT), which is a 50 minute test that looks at prospects’ thinking skills and personality traits that are desirable to general managers. Currently, more than half of active players in the NFL have taken a certain form of intelligence and personality assessment, called the TAP (Troutwine Athletic Profile) Assessment. This specific assessment is commonly used in the MLB and NBA, as well.  

Speaking of the NBA, while there is no current mandatory assessment, in recent years the majority of teams have called upon the director of an outside organization, Sports Aptitude, to issue psychological tests to potential prospects.  The personality side of athletes has come to be referred to as part of the “intangibles” of an athlete’s profile.  Another popular tool to measure these intangibles is the PRO3, an assessment of nearly 300 questions measuring many values of sports personality. The PRO3 has been utilized on over 14,000 professional athletes across many sports.  Teams that utilize this test include FC Barcelona, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, and a range of high-level college athletic programs.  It is even used in international professional tennis, rugby, and basketball, showing just how much the idea of personality in sports has taken root and how versatile it can be.  

Personality assessments in high level athletics are becoming a staple.  You have physical measures like the 40-yard dash in football and exit velocity in baseball, and now you have a solid psychological measure that could be the making or breaking point for a prospect.  Building the foundation to a desirable sports personality at a young age not only could benefit an athlete on their progression within their sport, but it could be the aspect of their player profile that gets them drafted one day.  Also, remember that this type of assessment’s place in athletics is in its infancy in terms of reliability and use. My F.A.S.T. platform combines the output from valid resources with data metrics yielding predictive reporting. The application extends throughout the player’s life cycle, from drafting, into player development, trading, and transitioning away from sport.

References

1.    Gee, C.J.; Marshall, J.C. & King, J.F. (2010). Should coaches use personality assessment in the talent identification process? A 15 year predictive study on professional hockey players. International Journal of Coaching Science, 4(1): 2-3, 6-8.