Trait personality in sport and exercise psychology: A mapping review and research agenda

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a systematic map of all trait-based research in sport and exercise psychology journals and to provide a detailed research agenda for progressing personality science in the context of sport and exercise. Abstracts were located for all articles published in 10 international journals from the field of sport and exercise psychology and were screened for trait measures. Definitions were obtained for each trait and thematic analysis was used to search for repeated patterns of meaning. We also mapped each trait to the 30 facets of the Big Five trait dimensions. Of the 5152 abstracts screened, 64 discrete traits were identified that met inclusion criteria. These traits could be categorised into 15 higher-order themes based on trait definitions. The most popular traits assessed in sport and exercise psychology research were trait anxiety, self-efficacy, perfectionism, social physique anxiety, and depression. The most popular higher-order themes were traits related to negative affect, self-confidence, perfectionism, competitiveness, and self-consciousness. Most traits could be mapped to facets of the Big Five, but some did not map well to any one particular facet. Few traits mapped to facets of agreeableness and openness. Eleven directions for future research are discussed including implications for systematic research synthesis.

Keywords:

• systematic map
• trait
• Big Five
• five-factor model

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Performance Group (Head Prof. Dr. Markus Raab) of the Institute of Psychology of the German Sport University in Cologne for their support and their helpful comments during the realisation of this review. The authors would also like to thank Justus Dick, Lili Dubreuil, Marina Griesbach, Lisa Overberg, Julia Pelzer, Vanessa Walter, and Marie Wiegand for their help in creating the tables with the journal abstracts.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here 10.1080/1612197X.2019.1570536.