The purpose of this article is to define the perspective from which a coach should analyze and evaluate personality traits that influence sports performance in team sports. The subjects of the research are Polish players (N= 300) in senior age (20–29 years) from 10 team sports (eachn= 30). A sample of champions (n= 13) was selected from the study population, and the Big Five model was applied to examine their personality with the use of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed with the IBM SPSS Statistics software, version 25. The study revealed statistically significant differences between team sports in four personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Champions of team sports were characterized by a lower level of neuroticism, a higher level of extraversion, and openness to experiences in relation to other sportsmen. It was also confirmed that the personality traits distribution levels depend on the sport discipline. Therefore, an important role must be assigned to those mental training techniques that favor emotional balance, team communication, and tactical thinking skills and are manifested in triggering start-up readiness.

Background: Research on personality in sport is popular because it allows you to forecast the greediness of actions in sports competition situations. The purpose of this paper is to determine which personality traits characterize individual sports champions.Materials and Methods: The subjects of the research were Polish athletes (N = 600) between 20 and 29 years of age from 20 individual sports disciplines (each n = 30). Then, a sample of champions (n = 56) and other individual disciplines athletes (n = 544) was selected from the study population. The Big Five model was used to examine their personality (NEO‐FFI).Results: Individual sports champions were characterized by a lower level of neuroticism, a higher level of extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness in relation to other athletes.Conclusion: Each sports discipline is characterized by slightly different psychological requirements for athletes. The undertaken sports activity shapes the personality, and the shaped personality traits have an impact on taking solutions in the starting situation. The level of intensity of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness may determine the result in competition in individual sports.

The aim of the study is to describe personality profiles and determinants of success in sports in relation to the Big Five Personality Model. In order to achieve this aim, personality profiles of players from various sports disciplines was set against the personality profile of champions—players who are considerably successful in sports competitions. Subsequently, an attempt was made to determine which personality traits significantly determine belonging to the group of champions—and therefore determine success in sport. The participants were men aged between 20 and 29 from the Polish population of sportsmen. A total of 1260 athletes were tested, out of whom 118 were qualified to the champions sample—those athletes had significant sports achievements. The research used the NEO-FFI Personality Questionnaire. Basic descriptive statistics, a series of Student’s t-tests for independent samples using the bootstrapping method, as well as a logistic regression model were performed. In relation to other athletes, champions were characterized by a lower level of neuroticism and a higher level of extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. An important personality determinant was neuroticism: the lower the level of neuroticism, the greater the probability of an athlete being classified as a champion. There are differences between champions and other athletes in all personality dimensions in terms of the Big Five. Based on the result of the research, it can be stated that personality differences should be seen as a consequence of athletes’ success, rather than as a reason for athletes’ success, based on their age between 20 and 29.

More and more research reports assert that sport experience has an influence on shaping the personality of athletes. This paper aims at validating the connection between personality and sport experience. The research subject of were young Polish male athletes (N = 1,260) aged 20–29, out of 42 sports disciplines, with sport experience ranging from 3 to 12 years. In order to test the personality of the research subjects, a five-factor model of personality called the Big Five was applied. Statistical calculations and analyses were carried out with ver. 25 of the IBM SPSS Statistics software. The research has shown that all personality traits correlate in a statistically significant way with sport experience (p < 0.001): there is a negative correlation of sports experience with neuroticism and a positive correlation with traits such as extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Thus, we have identified a relationship between sport experience and personality traits of the researched Polish male athletes—the longer the sport experience, the lower level of neuroticism and higher levels of extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Duration of sport experience has a considerable influence on forming the personality of Polish male athletes. However, the interpretation of just the results regarding high level of extraversion and conscientiousness distinguishes Polish male athletes (20–29 years old) from the Polish male population of non-training people.

Data on the relationship between personality traits and athletes’ level of sportsmanship are not sufficiently documented. Therefore, it is reasonable to look for differences in personality traits between athletes from different levels: amateur, competitive and professional, as these groups of athletes function differently on a daily basis. Therefore, the aim of this article was to gain knowledge about the relationship between personality traits and the sporting level of athletes. The experiment examined male and female athletes (N = 119) aged 19–34, including 100 Polish professional athletes: 30 basketball players, 40 football players, 30 kyokushin style karate competitors; and 19 professional athletes (among them were the elite: 3 Olympic medallists): 4-person Polish Biathlon Team, 7-person Polish Luge Team, 8-person Swiss Mountain Bike (MTB) Team. The NEO-FFI Personality Questionnaire was used. Analyses were performed with the IBM SPSS Statistics 29.0 package at a statistical significance of α = 0.05. Significant differences were found in comparisons between groups of athletes: football players and karate competitors (in severity of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness), football players and basketball players (in severity of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness), football players and lugers (in severity of agreeableness), football players and mountain bikers (in severity of neuroticism). One significant difference was noted in the comparisons between athletes from different levels: competitive athletes had higher neuroticism severity than elite athletes. A weak and negative correlation between neuroticism and sporting levels was verified. But no correlation was shown between personality traits and the likelihood of becoming a professional. It was concluded that the observed differences between the studied groups of athletes could be derived from the specifics of the different sports. The elite are characterised by a lower intensity of neuroticism in relation to the competitive athletes, which can be seen in the relationship: the lower the neuroticism, the higher the sporting level.

Background and Study Aim. Personality traits significantly influence athletic performance and the development of athletes. However, these traits vary at different levels of sport. This knowledge gap makes it difficult to effectively tailor training and support programs. Thus, the purpose of this article is to identify differences in the expression of personality traits among professional athletes, competitive athletes, and amateur athletes. Material and Methods. The respondents (N=83) were sport seniors from Poland, aged 23 years, studying at the Wroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences. They were classified into three groups: 1) n=23 professional athletes; 2) n=30 competitive athletes; and 3) n=30 amateur athletes. The Big Five model was used, and the NEO-FFI personality questionnaire was administered. Analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 27.0, with a statistical significance level set at α = 0.05. Results. Differences in neuroticism intensity among athletes from different sport levels were noted. Professional athletes showed the lowest level of neuroticism. However, no differences were observed in the intensity of individual personality traits among athletes by gender. Furthermore, correlations were noted between sport level and athletes’ personality traits: neuroticism (strong and negative), extraversion (weak and positive), and conscientiousness (weak and positive). Conclusions. Findings underscore the importance of considering personality traits when developing tailored training and support programs for athletes. The absence of gender differences in personality traits suggests that such programs can be designed without gender-specific adjustments. The identified correlations between sport level and personality traits provide valuable insights for coaches and sport psychologists to better understand and support athletes' psychological profiles.