Objective: In the present study we aimed to examine the relationship between competitive anxiety, autonomic nervous system activity represented by Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and respiration, and performance in novice archers. We also interested in whether neuroticism may be a factor with a potential to moderate the link among anxiety, autonomic activity and archers' performance. Methods: The sample included 39 novice archers ranging in age from 18 to 27. Participants first completed to anxiety and neuroticism measures. Then, participants' HRV and respiration activity was measured for 4 minutes. Afterwards, participants shot 10 arrows from 18 m to an 80 cm diameter target while their HRV and respiration was measured. Shooting accuracy was determined in terms of radial distance (error) from the center of the target. To determine an overall performance score, the median value of the 10 arrows was calculated for each participant. Spearman correlation analyses together with linear regression were used to analyze obtained data set. Results: Overall, results indicated an association between respiration and anxiety. Moreover, results provided preliminary evidence that neuroticism may be a factor having potential to moderate the relationship between anxiety and autonomic activity before and during an archery competition. Discussion: Results of the present study suggested that determination of archers' performance should be based upon both physiological and psychological factors.

Background and Study Aim. Attention and concentration, fundamental psychological skills, are crucial in situations where the opponent moves rapidly and incessantly. Reaction time is also of paramount importance in winning a game in fencing, which requires both offensive and defensive actions. Understanding the factors that affect reaction time is essential for improving performance. This study aimed to investigate the impact of disruptions in attention and concentration on reaction time in fencing. Material and Methods. Thirty-four healthy male and female fencers participated in two testing sessions. In the initial session, participants filled out a personal information form and took the d2 Attention Test to determine their attention levels. They also completed items representing the concentration disruption subscale of the Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2) to measure concentration levels. In the second session, participants underwent the Favero Electronic Fencing Target (EFT-1) test to measure their reaction times. To analyze the obtained data, SPSS 20 was used. The Pearson correlation coefficient between attention, concentration disruption, and participants' reaction times was calculated. Then, linear regression analysis was employed to test whether attention and concentration scores could predict the reaction times. Results. The findings indicated that there is a significant positive relationship between E (r = .603, p < .01), E% (r = .628, p < .01), E1 (r = .584, p < .01), E2 (r = .533, p < .01), and reaction time. Additionally, a significant negative relationship was revealed between concentration performance and reaction times (r = -.456, p < .01). A significant positive correlation was observed between fencers' concentration disruption and reaction times (r = .416, p < .05). Conclusions. Our study results emphasize the importance of attention and concentration in disciplines that require quick reactions. These cognitive factors need to be considered in the development of sports performance.

In this present study, we aimed to explore whether personality traits within the Big Five model and trait emotional intelligence may have the ability to predict the response speed to emotional stimuli in athletes. We also investigated whether athletes' response speed may differ due to the stimuli's emotional content. The sample included 62 male student-athletes who participated in the study. Participants first completed measures of personality and emotional intelligence. Afterward, they completed an experimental task to measure response speed to emotional stimuli. In this experiment, participants responded to neutral, positive, or negative emotional pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Results demonstrated that extraversion and neuroticism were not correlated to response speed to emotional stimuli. However, consistent with our predictions, openness to experience was associated (p< .01) with the emotional information processing speed of positively valenced stimuli. Besides, the appraisal of emotions dimension of the trait emotional intelligence was also significantly and negatively correlated to response speed to positively valenced pictures. Although the present study provided only partial support for our predictions regarding the link between emotional information processing speed, personality, and emotional intelligence, our results have some preliminary implications for both researchers and practitioners. Accordingly, our study showed that openness to experience and appraisal of emotions might be a valuable construct for a better understanding individuals' responses to positive emotional stimuli and previously known personality traits.

In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether positive emotional stimuli may affect high and low neuroticism individuals’ maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) level of the biceps brachii muscle, which is considered a motor representation of approach behavior. The sample consisted of 36 right-handed individuals (12 females) ranging in age from 18 to 27 (M= 23.516 [2.120]). Participants completed items from the Big Five Factor Personality Inventory concerning Neuroticism. After completing the psychometric test, we exposed participants to the high valance low arousal pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) via Biotrace+ software during the execution of arm flexions. Participants made 2 MVC attempts for each experimental condition lasting 6 seconds and rested 3 minutes between MVC attempts to eliminate the effect of fatigue. Results of Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the percent change of MVC was positively associated with neuroticism (r= .368, p< .05). The results also showed that the percent change of MVC of the high neuroticism group was significantly greater than the percent change of the low neuroticism group [t(36)= -2.449, p= .020]. Results provided some support for our hypothesis. Hence the data demonstrated that positive emotional stimuli decreased the MVC of the biceps brachii muscle in individuals with low neuroticism. On the contrary, MVC levels of high neuroticism individuals remained almost stable in response to positive emotional stimuli.

Whether inherited or acquired, intelligence has always been the subject of debate. Educators have accepted and widely applied Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence. Physical education and sport is one of the most crucial teaching fields for individuals' healthy development and efficient education. The study intended to analyse the relationship among the multiple intelligence areas of physical education teachers and their demographic characteristics. The research universe consists of physical education and sports teachers working in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). By the stratified sampling method in the research, 168 teachers were reached out of 182 physical education teachers working in the 2019-2020 academic year. The Multiple Intelligence Scale adapted into Turkish by Babacan (2012) and the personal information data prepared by the researchers were applied in the research. While evaluating the data, the means and the standard deviations of the demographic characteristics of the research group were extracted. T-test, ANOVA, and MANOVA were used to determine group differences. Tukey and post hoc tests were used to define in which groups the differences were. The outcomes showed that the school teachers graduated from can affect intelligence. The findings also show that different factors can affect teachers in different ways.