Extraversion in sport: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

This scoping review sought to identify every published study on extraversion in sport. A narrative synthesis was used to interpret findings across research themes. The evidence was graded with validated measures that use quantitative criteria to establish the quality of report writing and confidence in the findings reported. A comprehensive electronic and manual literature search identified 151 published articles (155 independent studies). The research was deductively coded into eight research themes within four causal hypotheses. Study quality varied according to publication date (r = –.52) and the evidence supporting major research questions was graded as ‘low’ or ‘very low’ in most instances. The most convincing evidence indicated that athletes are more extraverted than non-athletes (k = 58), team-sport athletes are more extraverted than individual-sport athletes (k = 18), female athletes are more extraverted than male athletes (k = 24), athletes scoring higher on extraversion use more adaptive coping strategies (k = 9), have stronger coach-athlete relationships (k = 6), and tend to be more successful (k = 33). Insufficient evidence was available to draw conclusions regarding playing position, group processes, or team success. Further research on coaches and officials, and using longitudinal and experimental research designs, are recommended.

KEYWORDS:

• Extroversion
• five-factor model
• group dynamics
• temperament
• sport psychology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Of note, to detect a small effect size (r = .10; d = .20) difference between two independent groups, with statistical power at .95 and alpha at .05, a sample size of ∼1000 is needed, whereas to detect a medium effect size (r = .20; d = .41), with statistical power at .95 and alpha at .05, a sample size of ∼260 is needed (see Funder & Ozer, 2019).