Do Performance Strategies Moderate the Relationship Between Personality and Training Behaviors? An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The aim of the present research was to investigate the relationship between personality traits, performance strategies, and training behaviors. In two studies we distributed the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), the Test of Performance Strategies-2 (TOPS-2), and the Quality of Training Inventory (QTI) to British gymnasts (n = 93 and n = 71, respectively). The results revealed additive and interactive effects of personality and performance strategies on training behaviors. Conscientiousness and goal-setting each independently predicted quality of preparation, goal-setting moderated the relationship between extraversion and distractibility, and emotional stability and emotional control largely independently predicted coping with adversity. The results suggest that athletes’ personalities and performance strategies should both be considered when attempting to maximize training effectiveness and that performance strategies are sometimes more effective for some people than for others.

This research was supported by the School of Sport Health and Exercise Sciences, Bangor University, UK and the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation, which was awarded to the second author. The second author was at Bangor University during this study. We would like to thank the British Gymnastics Association and their athletes and coaches for their help and cooperation.