Personality profiling of South African rugby union players

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate whether differences exist in the personality profiles of professional and semi-professional rugby union players. Participants were 73 male rugby players, 52 professional players and 21 semi-professional players. All participants completed the NEO Five-Factor Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI) as part of the WebNeuro Sport online assessment. An independent sample t-test showed a statistically significant difference in neuroticism between the professional and semi-professional players. The magnitude-based inference method confirmed the results of the independent sample t-test with a moderate effect. The potential practical value of these findings is that the Neuroticism scale of the Big Five personality dimensions can be used as a screening tool for indicating which players a team would want to recruit and invest time and money in since these players will most likely be capable of progressing to the top level in their sport.

Keywords:

• expertise
• performance
• personality
• professional rugby union players
• semi-professional
• sport

ORCID

Ankebé Kruger http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4568-2346

Kobus Du Plooy http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2573-5866

Pieter Kruger http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0504-3347

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.