The last of the “Big Five” markers of personality is that of extroversion (or extraversion). As mentioned previously, the Big Five are the five traits considered by psychologists to make up each individual’s specific and unique personality. This means that if you were to measure all five of someone’s traits quantifiably, which is typically done by the means of standardized questionnaires, the result would be a statistical measurement of the individual’s personality. So, personality isn’t just the subtle, or not so subtle, expression of a person’s qualities, but it can also be an on-paper measurable. I will discuss later on why this is more than an interesting attribute and could become important in the coming years across a range of disciplines including athletics.
The personality trait of extroversion is probably the most well-known of the Big Five. The trait is exploited in pop culture and it is not uncommon to find that people identify as either an extrovert (high in extroversion) or an introvert (low in extraversion). But, for those that do not know, extroversion is the personality trait of outgoingness. Someone high in extroversion is very sociable, enjoys being with others, seeks excitement, and could be referred to as the “life of the party.” They experience the sub-traits of: warmth/friendliness, assertiveness, gregariousness, cheerfulness, excitement-seeking, and activity level. On the flip side, someone low in extroversion, an introvert, might prefer solitary activities and down-time. They might be more reserved and keep to themselves. An extroverted individual’s basic orientation is turned outward, or toward external stimuli while an introvert’s is turned inward. Another big difference between extroverts and introverts is that an extrovert gains energy and feels more lively when around others while an introvert might lose energy, or feel drained from highly social scenarios.
While scoring high on some of the other personality traits discussed in previous articles has been found to be a positive attribute across the board, the correlation with extroversion is more variable by scenario. Due to the nature of the trait, it is easy to infer that those high in extroversion, on average, have better outcomes in highly sociable and/or exciting scenarios and jobs. Low levels of extroversion are beneficial for more calm activities or individual jobs. So, where does the ideal level of extroversion for athletes fall?
Following the above trend, the relationship between extroversion levels and athletics is variable based on the sport and situations within the sports. Just as extroversion is one of the more popular personality traits, it is also one of the more studied. Many psychologists hypothesize a physiological difference between extroverts and introverts - that an extrovert’s cortex might generally be less aroused and thus requires more stimuli. By the same logic, an introvert, who’s cortex might run on higher arousal, could be overwhelmed by a large amount of external stimuli. If this is true, then there should be a clear relationship to athletics. One of the first studies linking psychological traits to sports found that in stressful environments, such as a big situation in a game, extroverts show motor advantages compared to introverts.1 The same study showed that introverts performed better in less environmentally stimulating sports and activities, such as distance running and shooting.
While the above represents benefits of high or low extroversion based on different types of sports and situations, a later study found an overall positive relationship between athletic performance and extroversion.2 Diving back into the physiological, more recent research shows that extroverts display faster central and peripheral motor processing, as measured by LRP and EMG data.3 So, perhaps extroverts have faster reactions and motor output, which can be related to athleticism. For sports in which it might not be beneficial to have these traits, an introvert might prosper in, relating back to the original study mentioned.
Like some of the other Big Five traits, the level of extroversion that seems to be beneficial varies by team or individual sports. It should come as no surprise that high levels of extroversion have been found to be positively correlated with team sports, while lower levels are found in individual sports.4,5 Since extroverts flourish in social environments, it makes sense that they would be more drawn toward team sports. Also, athletes of both combat and power sports have been found to express higher levels of extraversion, coinciding with the above theory on the need extroverts have for higher levels of external stimulation4.
With all of this data and information, it is fair to hypothesize that athletes who take on a leadership role for their teams are likely to be higher in extroversion. Team leaders, or captains, need to be comfortable taking control of a group of others, leading by example for them, and being outgoing enough to get a response from their teammates. Perhaps it might be beneficial for coaches to administer personality assays to their players to help determine who might be a suitable fit for team captain. Going a step further, and relating back to the opening paragraph, it is not far-fetched to believe that in the near future we might see personality tests used as part of analyses of players for high level athletics. With the statistics and metrics that are used today both within competition, in scouting other teams, and to determine draftable players for professional sports, why shouldn’t personality traits be measured when there are clear correlations to sport performance? In this case, coaches of team sports and high-action sports would look for players high in extroversion while those of individual and less stimulating sports could seek out the introverts. Since clear correlations have been found, it could be fair game to be used at the highest levels of athletics. Using my F.A.S.T. methodology, organizations understand the interplay between the 5 factor traits, and other variables influencing performance consistency. Thereby increasing player potential, team cohesion, and advancing player development.
References
1. Kane, J. E. (1970). Personality and physical abilities. G. S. Kenyon (Ed.), Contemporary psychology of sport: Second International Congress of Sports Psychology.
2. Taylor, DM & Doria, JR (1981). Self-serving and group-serving biases in attribution. J Soc Psychol 113: 201-211.
3. Stahl, J & Rammsayer T (2008). Extroversion-related differences in speed of premotor and motor processing as revealed by lateralized readiness potentials. J Mot Behav 40: 143-154.
4. Kaprio, J; et al. (2001). Personality and Mood of Former Elite Male Athletes - A Descriptive Study. International Journal of Sports Medicine 22(3): 215-21.
5. Ghaderi, N & Ghasemi, A (2012). The association between personal characters (Extroversion, Introversion) and emotional intelligence with choose type of sport (team and individually). European Journal of Experimental Biology 2(6):2038-2042.