Mind Games : How Personality, Sports Match Up

Are certain personalities attracted to specific sports?

Yes, says James Gavin, a professor of applied social science at Concordia University in Montreal. Our personalities affect our choice of sports, our willingness to participate in a sport and how we perform in the sport. Which may explain why you’re gagging on your weekly regimen of running, aerobics or yoga.

“There are certain emotional qualities reinforced by the choice of exercise, and within that exercise,” Gavin says. “It’s hard to get people to adhere to an activity that doesn’t feel right to them.”

Define your measure of sociability, spontaneity, discipline, aggressiveness, competitiveness, mental and risk-taking abilities, and you’ll have a better understanding of your sport of choice.

Gavin, who has written “Body Moves: The Psychology of Exercise,” says that any physical activity can be analyzed in three dimensions he refers to as the psychological, physical and body movement domains. Our psychological preferences are bolstered by our body type and preference for certain kinds of movement.

On Gavin’s scale, swimming ranks very high in requiring discipline, and low on spontaneity, sociability and mental focus. In other words, once you get yourself into the water, you can glide solo on autopilot.

In contrast, “Basketball demands you pay attention; you have to be riveted in the moment,” Gavin points out. “The activity by definition draws certain things from you.”

Like swimming, running demands discipline, but it’s also low on spontaneity, risk-taking and mental focus.

Walking may be the ultimate sport for meeting physical fitness needs over a broad range of personalities. It can be played either way for spontaneity and sociability. It requires little in the way of competitiveness, mental focus, risk-taking or aggressiveness, and it offers plenty of opportunity for spontaneity and sociability; in other words, walking is tailor-made for the individual seeking exercise without commitment.

Gavin’s psychological parameters may give you some clues as to why you’re not enjoying your fitness program, and what you can do about it. But while psychological and physical factors may determine what sport you’ll enjoy most, there are other considerations. Time, convenience and cost also enter the picture, Gavin points out.

Scientific research seems to show that a person will be motivated to exercise if he or she picks an activity that appeals to him. A study of Harvard graduates by a Dartmouth Medical School researcher indicated personality was an important factor in determining if an individual would stick with a fitness program.

In the March, 1989, issue of Psychology Today, Gavin presented a chart showing how various sports and fitness activities rank according to seven parameters. Gavin refers to these parameters as Psychosocial Activity Dimensions.

Gavin provided a work sheet that allowed us to rank ourselves from very high to very low in each dimension. Then we can compare our preferences to his evaluation of specific fitness activities. (In evaluating the activity, Gavin assumed the individual participates regularly in the sport or activity).

The psychosocial activity dimensions include:

* Sociability: Do you most enjoy being alone or having people around?

* Spontaneity: Are you a quick decision-maker or do you prefer detailed planning?

* Discipline: Do you prefer to stick it out once you start something? Or do you abandon activities that require continued effort?

* Aggressiveness: Do you try to control events?

* Competitiveness: Do you enjoy competitive situations or shy aware from them?

* Mental focus: Are you able to concentrate on one thing when you want or have to?

* Risk-taking: Do you enjoy taking risks or do you prefer tried-and-true approaches?

Answering such questions gives us a clearer idea of how well our sport suits us, and why certain sports won’t satisfy us.

Part of the problem in determining an individual’s sports personality is that people may play the same sport in different ways. An individual’s behavior pattern in sports may be either participatory or competitive, according to Dick Lister, a clinical psychologist and sports psychologist in Costa Mesa.

“The participatory golfer may be on the course as much to enjoy its aesthetic qualities, the trees and the lakes, as he is to put the ball in the hole,” Lister explains. “The competitive golfer may see the lake because his ball is in it.”

The participatory and competitive categories are roughly equivalent to the Type A and Type B behavior patterns with which we’re familiar. In their book, “Type A Behavior and Your Heart,” Drs. Meyer Friedman and Ray H. Rosenman define the Type A behavior pattern as an “action-emotion complex” in anyone “ aggressively involved in a chronic, incessant struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time.”

There’s also an environmental element to Type A behavior, the physicians say; an individual may behave in a hard-driving fashion only in certain situations, for example, at work, or on the racquetball court.

An individual with a Type A personality who is trying to relieve some of the stress his behavior creates, may want to choose a sport that doesn’t lend itself easily to competition, Gavin says. What the Type A character may need is a dose of playtime--going out to walk streets he has never traveled before or maybe going fishing.

“While (their favorite sport) may benefit them cardiovascularly, it may not be the best psychologically, because it reinforces qualities they already have an abundance of,” Gavin says. “The Type A personality will go into a sport with real aggression. From health to performance to super performance in a very short time. If a Type A takes on a Type B activity, it quickly becomes a performance contest.”

But while the participatory athlete may be more relaxed than the competitive athlete, both may be benefiting from their approach to exercise. The competitive athlete doesn’t have to consider taking the participatory approach unless he’s doing damage to himself, Lister says. Competitive jocks are usually having a good time improving their performances. It’s when the obsession with improvement actually leads to declining performance that things get weird.

Researchers believe different personalities prefer different movements.

“Type A movements are typically quick and linear, a sudden changeability as opposed to a flow,” Gavin says. “The movement would be more in tune with racquet games or running than with yoga or t’ai chi. A Type A individual will gravitate toward those types of movements. There’s a quantitative, performance emphasis.”

The Type B personality has a different attitude toward movement. “More likely you’d find them doing activities with more enjoyment to them, and with more movement flow,” Gavin says. “Type B’s may be runners, but they won’t be likely to enter races with the same emphasis. (And) they might be more varied in the routes they take.”

While sports can be played in either a participatory or competitive fashion, some require more concentration than others even in the participatory mode. If you want to escape the pressures of your own personality, choose your sport wisely. After all, it’s all in fun.

WHAT’S YOUR SPORT PERSONALITY?

Matching your personality with your sport of choice will increase the likelihood that you’ll stick with it, says Dr. James Gavin, a professor of applied social science at Concordia University in Montreal and author of “Body Moves: The Psychology of Exercise.”

Bodybuilders are characterized by Gavin as people who are persistent despite the obstacles. They don’t like to change plans and they try to control situations by being forceful. Downhill skiers, on the other hand, are very social people who love spur-of-the-moment decisions. Sticking with things is difficult for them but they love a challenge and taking risks. Where do you stand?

Aerobics Cycling Sociability: Above average Spontaneity: Above average Disipline: Below average Aggressiveness: Below average Competitiveness: Very low Mental Focus: Below average Risk Taking: Below average Golf Sociability: Very High Spontaneity: Very low Disipline: Very low Aggressiveness: Above average Competitiveness: Very High Mental Focus: Very High Risk Taking: Above average Running Sociability: Below average Spontaneity: Very low Disipline: Very High Aggressiveness: Average Competitiveness: Average Mental Focus: Very low Risk Taking: Very low Swimming Sociability: Very low Spontaneity: Below average Disipline: Above average Aggressiveness: Very low Competitiveness: Below average Mental Focus: Very low Risk Taking: Below average Tennis Sociability: Very High Spontaneity: Very High Disipline: Very low Aggressiveness: Very High Competitiveness: Very High Mental Focus: Very High Risk Taking: Very High Walking Sociability: Below average Spontaneity: Average Disipline: Below average Aggressiveness: Very low Competitiveness: Very low Mental Focus: Very low Risk Taking: Very low Source: James Gavin, Ph.D.