Personality and rock-climbing performance progression: a 12-months follow-up

ABSTRACT

Although multiple investigations analysed the impact of personality on sport-related practice and outcomes, its contribution to explaining performance in high-risk or extreme sports was not thoroughly investigated. The present investigation pursues three different objectives: (1) identifying whether Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality traits are stable predictors of rock-climbing performance; (2) analysing the extent to which grit consistently explains various facets of rock-climbing performance, over and beyond the FFM traits; and (3) examining the extent to which grit is a consistent predictor of long-term rock-climbing progression. Data on rock-climbing performance was collected with a lag of 12 months after the collection of personality data. Participants (N = 113; 43 females and 70 males) with ages between 17 and 67 (M = 34.19, SD = 10.53) completed a comprehensive measure of rock-climbing performance (times 1 and 2). At time 1, personality was measured with the Big Five Inventory FFM –2 Short Form, and the 12-item Grit Scale, respectively. The International Rock Climbing Research Association (IRCRA) scale was used to measure various facets of rock-climbing performance at both times 1 and 2. Our previous findings were partly replicated, both openness to experience and grit emerging as consistent predictors of rock-climbing performance. However, no personality trait showed a significant association with climbing performance progression.

KEYWORDS:

• Personality
• grit
• performance
• extreme sports
• rock-climbing

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, AI, upon reasonable request.