UNIT-IX: PSYCHOLOGY AND SPORTS

Contents
 Personality; its definition and types – Trait and Types (Sheldon and Jung Classification)
and Big Five Theory
 Motivation, its type and techniques
 Exercise Adherence; Reasons to Exercise, Benefits of Exercise
 Strategies for Enhancing Adherence to Exercise
 Meaning, Concept and Types of Aggressions in Sports
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the unit, students will be able to:
 classify different types of personality and its relationship with sport performance.
 recognise concept of motivation and identify various types of motivation.
 illustrate various strategies of motivation used in sports.
 various reasons to exercise and its associated benefits.
 identify strategies for promoting exercise adherence.
 differentiate types of aggression in sports

Discussion
Read an excerpt from a leading newspaper regarding news for requirement of sports
psychology in Indian Sports.
BCCI for hiring psychologists to arrest stress
TNN | Mar 11 NEW DELHI: The Indian Cricket Board has discussed plans to ask its state units
to hire good sports psychologists who can help young players handle pressure better and
ensure lesser drop-outs from the game. With India losing several talented Under-14 and
Under-16 level players every year due to family and academics pressures, BCCI also wants to
make the hiring of psychologists compulsory at state academies for age group players.
According to a board official, “India is losing a lot of talent at the age-group levels, The
stake-holders of the game are all concerned and they want a system in place to tackle this
problem. It is common these days to see talented players leaving the game after one or two
bad seasons. As you go higher, the talent pool is reduced. “This shouldn't happen,” thus the
idea of hiring psychologist was discussed. adding that the cricket drop outs should stop at all
levels.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/news/bcci-for-hiring-psychologists-to-
arrest- stress/articleshowprint/57587522.cms 1/1

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Discuss in your group
 What causes a person to persist or to give up?
 What is the person thinking and feeling while engaged in the activity?
 What can be the reasons for drop-out of talented athletes from sports?
 How can a Sports Psychologist help young players handle pressure better?
 Can different motivation techniques help athletes towards continued sports
participation?
Present your ideas to the class

9.1.1 Personality: Concept and Definitions

Reading the news clipping, did you wonder why a psychologist would be required to prevent
athletes from dropping out, even though they have achieved success? Are we able to
identify athletes who have the talent or skill to continue with sports participation but still
lack the determination to continue in sports? If we were asked to analyse reasons why some
sportspeople succeed despite all odds, surely, we will come up with adjectives like
determined, persistent, courageous, dynamic, robust, etc. Is there something more which
can be added to describe these athletes – eg., consistent or possessing a stable pattern of
behaviour? Sports psychologists have tried to answer these by relating them with various
theories of personality. Understanding personality has been an area of interest which is as
old as our civilization. Even before the present day scientific and systematic research to
explain personality developed, philosophers across the globe tried to analyse characteristics
which were unique to an individual and why people differed in various ways. However, the
concept of personality is still evolving and covers such a large range of phenomenon, that it
is very difficult to include all the aspects of personality in one definition.
The word personality is derived from the Latin word persona, the mask used by actors in the
Roman theatre for changing their appearance for performing in-front of their audience
according to the given role. The actor performed as per the script or story wearing a
particular mask. The audience also expected them to act in a particular manner on seeing
the mask. However, it didn’t mean that the actors possessed the desired qualities of the
character in themselves. Therefore, the concept of personality came to refer to an
individual’s characteristic way of responding to other individuals and situations. When we
observe people around us, we are able to describe their actions and responses to different
situations based on the combination of their individual thoughts, characteristics, behaviour,
attitude, ideas and habits. We may represent them as shy, happy, courageous, aggressive
etc. These characteristics are a representation of different components of personalities.
Therefore, we can view personality as the relatively stable and unique characteristics of an
individual across different situations and varied period of time.

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Thus, Personality is a body of habits, traits, attitudes and ideas of an individual which are
organized externally into roles and statuses. They relate internally to motivation, goals and
various aspects of selfhood. In fact, personality is a composite total of all that a person is. It
is the totality of one’s behaviour towards one’s own self as well as others and includes
everything about the person, his/her physical, emotional, social, mental and spiritual make-
up.
In sports also, it is important to understand athletes and their unique and relatively stable
characteristics in different situations and conditions. It is essential to know how a particular
athlete responds to the situational demands of the training as well as competitions. No two
athletes behave in a similar manner; they may behave differently in a common situation.
Some athletes may not like to take a command from a coach but may respond positively
towards acceptable alternatives like cooperative learning from coaches. Sports psychologist
may also be interested to learn which type of people opt for a particular type of sports or
exercise program. To understand this, let us overview personality from various approaches
and theories propounded by eminent psychologists from across the world. These theories
represent various contrasting views and perspectives on the origin and nature of human
uniqueness. Each theory may have vast differences but offers wide range of insight that can
add towards effective understanding of personality of an individual.
Personality, thus, can be defined as the characteristic set of behaviours, cognitions and
emotional patterns that evolve from biological and environmental factors. It is the
integration of those systems and habits that represent an individual’s characteristic
adjustment to his environment. According to Robert A Baron, “Personality is an individual’s
unique and relatively stable pattern of behaviour, thoughts and feelings.” Matt Jarvis (2006)
in his book presented a general definition of personality offered by Pewin (1993)
“Personality represents those structural and dynamic properties of an individual or
individuals as they reflect themselves in characteristic responses to situations”. It is the
integration of those systems and habits that represent an individual’s characteristic
adjustment to his environment.”

Carl Jung (1933)1: Personality as an attitude refers to a predisposition to behave in a certain

manner.
William Herbert Sheldon (1942)2: offered a topology of personality based on three major
morphologies or body types (Endomorph, Ectomorph, Mesomorph), each associated with a
different temperament of an individual.
Cattell (1950)3: Personality is “that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a
given situation.”
Guildford (1959)4: Personality is an ‘individual’s unique pattern of traits.’
Allport (1961)5: Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those

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psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment.
Eysenck (1953)6: Personality is defined as more or less stable and enduring organization or a
person’s character, temperament, intellect and physique which determine his unique
adjustment to the environment.
Robert A Baron (2008)7: Personality is defined as individual’s unique and relatively stable
pattern of behaviour, thoughts and feelings.

9.1.2 Personality Types

Personality
Approaches

Psycho Analytic Humanistic Learning

Type Approach Trait Appraoch
Approach Approach Approaches

Classifications Social Cognitive

based on 16 PF -Cattell Sigmund Freud Maslow Theories

Behaviour Biological Rogers

Characterstics Aspects Big 5 Personality Jung
Traits- Costa

Type A
Somatotype:
personality Eysenck - Trait
Sheldon
behaviour inventory

Myers-Briggs Fluid Type:

Type Indicator Hippocrates

Kretschmer
classification

Some of the Personality Types and Traits mentioned here could be used for research as
Extension Activities or as Project Work
Over the years, with the progress of research and development of literature in the field of
personality by various psychologists, it is essential to understand the various approaches for
getting a better perspective and understanding of personality.
Personality type refers to the psychological classification of different types of people.
Personality types are distinguished from personality traits, which come in different degrees.
There are many theories regarding personality types, and each theory contains several and
sometimes many sub theories. For example, according to type theories, there are two types
of people, introverts and extroverts. According to trait theories, introversion and
extroversion are part of a continuous dimension with many people in the middle. The major
theories include dispositional (trait) perspective, psychodynamic, humanistic, biological,
behaviourist, evolutionary, and social learning perspective. However, many researchers and
psychologists do not clearly subscribe to any one particular perspective, but instead take an

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heterogeneous approach. There is also a substantial emphasis on the applied field of
personality testing. In psychological education and training, the study of the nature of
personality and its psychological development is usually reviewed as a prerequisite.
Since no one particular theory or approach covers the complete aspects of personality, the
approach for explaining ‘personality’ includes mainly, the ‘Type’ approach which consists of
classification or comprehending of personality type based on a set of behaviour
characteristics with similarities as done by Myers and Briggs type indicator, Friedman and
Rosenman Type A personality behaviour etc., as well as on the basis of body type
classification by Kretschmar, or somatotype by William Sheldon, and the fluid type
classification as explained by Hypocrites.
In the Indian context also, the famous Ayurveda book Charak Samhita classifies individuals
into three types known as vat, pitta, kapha on the basis of three humoral elements are
referred as tridosha. Each of these elements are associated with the basic nature of an
individual referred to as prakriti. The Indian literature also refers to personality typology
based on trigunas meaning three qualities:
(a) Sattva Guna;
(b) Rajas Guna;
(c) Tamas Guna.
The Sattva Guna consists of qualities related to "spirituality". When Sattva Guna is
dominant, a person has an inherent desire to be good and caring. Cleanliness, truthfulness,
discipline, constructive thought and self-control are the motive force of sattvic action. Rajas
Guna gives rise to passion and desire. Such a person veers towards greed, activity,
undertaking of works, restlessness, gratifications, dissatisfactions, and envy. A person who is
Tamasic possesses characteristics associated with laziness, inactivity, destructive behaviour,
arrogance, anger etc.
Trait approach, on the other hand, focusses on specific psychological attributes based on
the concept of individuals differing in ‘unique’ and ‘stable’ characteristics. Trait refers to a
characteristic that is unchanging and predictable. For example, shyness is a trait that is
usually stable in an individual’s personality. Some traits are innate – the infant possesses a
basis for developing the trait at birth, while others are acquired through learning, such as
the tendencies toward tidiness or untidiness. Some researchers like Eysenck, Cattel as well
as Allport and others support inherent traits as “cardinal” and proposed a theory of
personality based on biological factors, arguing that individuals inherit a type of nervous
system that affects their ability to learn and adapt to the environment. Sigmund Freud and
Neo-Freudians like Jung, who described the structure of personality in three part-id, ego,
super ego, put forward the psycho-dynamic theory of personality that assumes there is an
interaction between nature (innate instincts) and nurture (parental influences). The

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Humanistic approach of Maslow and Carls Roger focuses more on human experiences and
innate capacities for self-directed changes. They are mainly concerned with an individual’s
innate drive toward self-actualization—a state of fulfilment in which a person is achieving at
his or her highest level of capability. The learning approach to personality through social
cognitive theory offered by Bandura and various others like Skinner emphasizes the role of
learning and human experiences on consistency and uniqueness in behaviour over time and
across situations. They also focus on behaviour as a response to change in environment and
conditions, and not merely dependent on personality traits.
In modern sports, inter-action perspective regarding personality is an extremely popular and
widely adopted approach towards understanding of behaviour. It defines behaviour as
function of personality and situational factors acting together. According to the interaction
theory behaviour in any situation is a function of both personality and external factors.
While personality and situation cannot influence the behaviour independently, but their
interaction influences a particular behaviour. For example, an player with high hostility trait
may not indulge in aggressive behaviour if he or his team is winning with a large margin, or
an athlete with composed traits may reflect neurotic tendencies of anxiety if faced with the
challenge of scoring the winning run of the last ball of a knockout round match. Similar
forcing influence of situation on behaviour can be observed in various sports environment,
where the athletes’ behaviour is not influenced by their core traits; instead it is determined
by the rewards and threats associated with the particular situation.

9.1.3 Trait Theory

Trait, in psychology, refers to the ways in which we generally describe the characteristics of
an individual as part of his personality. The descriptive terms such as extrovert, introvert,
sincere, honest, loyal, truthful, impulsive, quiet, conservative, hesitant, dominant,
apprehensive are examples of personality traits. Trait approach is one of the most vital
areas of study in psychology that helps identify a person’s personality.
Trait has two main assumptions:-
(a) every individual has certain unique characteristics or traits which are stable and
consistent under various conditions,
(b) every individual is different due to Her/He unique characteristics or traits.
Therefore, trait can be defined as a stable and unique characteristic that causes a person to
respond to a given situation in a certain way. Trait theories indicate that the personality of
an individual consists of traits which are always constant regardless of the situations. An
individual as a whole does not have just a single trait, but a variety of traits form the

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personality of an individual. These personality traits are unique and differ from one
individual to another.
Assessment of trait can be based on three factors.

(a) Frequency;
(b) Intensity and
(c) Variety of situation.
Frequency refers to repetition of similar behaviour consistently over a period of time,
intensity refers to reflecting the behaviour at an extreme level, and variety of situation
refers to repetition of similar behaviour over different situations.
It means, we can describe individual’s personality based on trait approach according to the
reflection of similar characteristics under variety of conditions to be reflected in their
behaviour at an extreme level. For example, if an athlete is sociable, in most situations the
athlete will be effectively cooperative and will reflect strong team work inside as well as
outside the sporting arena. Thus, trait approach attempts to identify primary characteristics
of people. A trait is considered as a relatively enduring attribute or quality on which one
individual differs from another. They include a range of possible behaviours that are
activated according to the demands of the situation.
Supporting such a theory was Gordon Allport (1936), an initial modern trait theorist who
worked towards explaining personality traits. He proposed that individuals possess a
number of traits, which are dynamic in nature. They determine behaviour in such a manner
that an individual approaches different situation with similar plans. The traits integrate
stimuli and responses which otherwise look dissimilar. According to him, personality of an
individual can be studied through a distinction between the common traits and the personal
disposition. It can be classified into three categories.

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1. Cardinal Traits – which dominate behaviour of a person; may be developed later in life
but rare;
2. Central Traits – consisting of characteristics found among everyone and acts as basic
building blocks that shape most of our behaviours and lay foundation of an individuals
personality;
3. Secondary Traits- characteristics or traits which are in plentiful but need stimuli,
therefore reflected only in certain circumstances.

9.1.4 Sheldon Personality Type

In the 1940s William Herbert Sheldon classified people according to body types. He claimed
that a body type could be linked with the personality of the person. According to Sheldon’s
theory, a fat person with a large bone structure tends to have an outgoing and more relaxed
personality while a more muscular body-typed person is more active and aggressive. A slim
or scrawny person with thin muscles is usually characterized as being quiet or fragile. He
split up these body/personality types into three categories called somatotypes.
(a) Endomorph who are rounded and soft, were said to have tendency towards a
‘viscerotonic’ personality, (ie., Relaxed, comfortable, Social, peaceful, loving);
(b) Mesomorph who are square and muscular, were said to have a tendency towards a
‘somatotonic’ personality (ie., Active, dynamic, assertive); and
(c) Ectomorph who are thin and fine-boned, were said to have a tendency towards a
‘cerebrotonic’ personality (ie., Introvert, thoughtful, sensitive, inhibited).

Extension Activity
Assess your own personality
Here are a number of personality traits that may or may not apply to you. Please write a
number next to each statement to indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with
that statement.
1 = Disagree strongly
2 = Disagree moderately
3 = Disagree a little
4 = Neither agree nor disagree
5 = Agree a little
6 = Agree moderately
7 = Agree strongly

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When I participate in Sports, I feel

1. Enthusiastic and Energetic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. Critical, quarrelsome, suspicious of my teammates 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3. Dependable, disciplined and well-organised 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

4. Anxious about my performance 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

5. Open to new ideas and suggestions. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6. Cautious while engaging with others 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7. Cooperative with my team mates 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8. Disorganized, careless about my equipment 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9. Calm and collected about the outcome 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10. Rigid and unwilling to try out new ideas 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Answer the following:

1. If you were to change one aspect of your personality, what would you like to change
and why? If not, why not?
2. Which aspect of your personality would you never want to change? Discuss with a
friend.
For answers to Personality assessment, see last page of the Unit.

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 Body Type Physiological Characteristics Psychological Characteristics
ENDOMORPH Pear-shaped Relaxed Tolerant Comfortable
Round, fat and thick Sociable Humorous Fun-loving
Wide hips and narrow shoulders High Even-tempered
fat percentage
Under-developed muscles
ECTOMORPH Thin Creative Artistic Thoughtful
Under weight
Narrow chest and abdomen Narrow
shoulders and hip Less fat percentage
MESOMORPH Muscular, wedge-shaped body Broad Active Combative Dominant
shoulders Courageous
Narrow hips
Less fat percentage

Endomorph
An endomorphic somatotype, also known as viscerotonic type, is characterised by the social
temperament type. The psychological characteristic traits of this somatotype include being
relaxed, peaceful, comfortable, affectionate, loving, tolerant, and sociable. They are fun-
loving, good- humoured, even-tempered people and they love food. The endomorph is
physical ‘round’, with wide hips and narrow shoulders that give them a pear-shaped
appearance because of extra fat on their body.
Ectomorph
An ectomorph somatotype is also known as the cerebrotonic type. This personality type is
characterised as an intelligent temperament. The psychological characteristic traits of this
somatotype include intelligence, and emotional restraint. These people are introverts.
Physically, they are always skinny, thin with narrow shoulders and hips with little fat on their
body. Their personality tends to be self-conscious, socially anxious, quiet, reserved but
artistic and thoughtful. They always keep to themselves and are afraid to branch out.
Mesomorph
The mesomorph, known as the somatotonic type, is characterised by predominance of body
over social and intellectual temperament. Physically they are well built with a muscular
body, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. These individuals have very little fat on their
body. Psychologically, the mesomorphs are active, combative, dominant, adventurous and
courageous. They are not afraid to break out and do new things with new people. They are
assertive and prefer vigorous activity and display a keen interest in physical activities.

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Heath Carter Model of Somatotype applicable in sports

In each of the three categories (Endomorph, Mesomorph, Ectomorph), athletes can be

classified on a scale from 1 to 7. The three numbers together give a somatotype number,
with first score representing Endomorph score first, then Mesomorph and finally
Ectomorph. For example, 1-7-1 reflects dominant endomorph body type or 4-4-4 reflects a
balanced body type between the three, many researchers have tried to identify the body
types of athletes and relate with suitable sports.

9.1.5 Jung's Classification of Personality Types

Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and a disciple of Sigmund Freud, was once a great
admirer of Freud’s view on psychoanalysis and worked with him for five years. However, he
started developing contradictory views on some of the major assumptions or findings of
Sigmund Freud and later followed a separate professional path. Therefore, many times, Carl
Jung is referred to as a Neo-Freudian also.
Characteristics of Introverts & Extroverts
Introvert Extrovert
Interested in their own self Highly socialized

Reserved Broad-minded

Self-aware and introspective Expressive and enjoy centre of attention

Take pleasure in reading, writing Meet unknown people easily

Tend to shy away from public Bold, outgoing and optimistic person

Think before acting Action oriented

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Later he published a book Psychology Typen (Psychology Types) in 1921 and presented his
own theory of personality by classifying personality based on two important aspects.
First is personality attitude (introvert and extrovert) and second is personality functions
(Sensing, Intuitive, Thinking, Feeling). He can be credited for being the first to introduce the
concept of introversion and extroversion to the world of psychology. It was not a designed
to label type of people, instead the purpose was to demonstrate the complexity of human
typology and its consequences. Let us understand Jung’s topology based on personality
attitude and personality functions:
1. Personality Attitude: which is distinguished as Extrovert or Introvert.
2. Personality Functions: which can be classified as four distinct function namely; Feeling,
Intuiting; Judging or Sensing. The four functions are divided into what Jung called
rational (or judging) and irrational (or perceiving) functions. Thinking and sensations
are rational, according to Jung, while intuition and feeling are irrational.

Introvert: In Jung’s theory, introverts are people who are predominantly interested in their
own mental self. They are typically seen as more reserved or reflective and prefer to be
withdrawn from external reality. They opt to live in their own inner world of feelings and
thoughts and often take pleasure in solitary activities such as reading, writing, or meditating.
They prefer to create their own virtual and imagery world, due to which they tend to shy
away from in public interactions and social connects and are less vocal with people around
them, due to this, they like to be reserved and within themselves. They are more analytical
before speaking.
Extrovert: In Jung’s theory people with an extrovert personality are the total opposite of
those with an introvert personality. They prefer the outer world of things, hence are found
to be more broad-minded, are highly socialized, hence can meet unknown people easily.
They are very bold, outgoing and optimistic person.

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 Where you prefer EXTRAVERSTION Peo INTROVERSION People
to focus your ple who
attention who prefer extraversion prefer introversion tend to
tend to focus their focus their attention on the
attention on the outer inner world of ideas and
world of people and impressions.
things

The way you prefer SENSING People who INTUITION People who
to take in prefer prefer
information. sensing tend to take in intuition tend to take in
information through the information from pattern
five senses and and the big picture and
focus on future
possibilities.

The way you prefer THINKING People FEELING People who

to make decisions who prefer prefer feeling
thinking tend to make tend to make decision
decision based primarily based primarily on values
on logic and on objective and on subjective
analysis of cause and evaluation of person-
effect. centered concern.

How you prefer to JUDGING People who PERCEIVING People

deal with the outer prefer who prefer
world Judging tend to like a perceiving tend to like a
planning and organized flexible and spontaneous
approach to life and approach to life and prefer
prefer to have things to keep their options open
settled.

Extroverts tend to enjoy human interactions and to be enthusiastic, talkative, assertive, and
gregarious. They take pleasure in activities that involve large social gatherings, such as
parties, community activities, public demonstrations, and business or political groups. They
also tend to work well in groups.
Personality Functions: Whether a person is an introvert or extrovert, she/he has a preferred
pattern to deal with the situations. There can be four basic way or function used by people:

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1. Feeling: Feeling is a preference for making decisions based on values and effects on
people rather than logic. People use their emotional aspects to understand the
situation and deal according to it.
2. Thinking: The capacity to decide objectively based on the evidence and applicable
principles is defined as thinking. People evaluate the information received with logic
and rationale for dealing with outer world.
3. Sensing: Sensing refers to a preference for perceiving the world through facts,
evidence, data and details. People use their senses to seek information. They are good
at looking and listening to understand the world around them.
4. Intuitive: Intuition refers to a preference for perceiving the world through concepts,
theories and abstractions. People use their perception and intuitions to understand
the situation, people around them, sometime its referred as sixth sense of an
individual.
According to Jung, the two attitudes of extraversion and introversion cannot be
demonstrated in isolation. It need to be associated with one of the four functions. When the
two attitudes (Extrovert and Introvert) combine with four functions (Sensing, Intuition,
Thinking, Feeling), they form eight mental functions-in-attitude or personality types. Let us
briefly view each of the eight combinations of personality types.

Extroverted Extroverted thinking involves segmenting; organizing for efficiency;

Thinking systematizing; applying logic; structuring; checking for consequences;
monitoring for standards or specifications being met; setting boundaries,
guidelines, and parameters; deciding if something is working or not.
Sorting out different colours and styles; thinking about the consequences.
Extroverts who are thinkers are able to see the world through complex and
solid ideas but these complex ideas are often handed down or moved on by
others. These people often work in fields related to Math and Science.
Introverted Introverted thinking involves analysing; categorizing; evaluating according to
Thinking principles and whether something fits the framework or model; figuring out
the principles on which something works; checking for inconsistencies;
clarifying definitions to get more precision; analysing options for using
principles.
Introverts who think see how the world works in a subjective and creative
way. This analysis is based on internal knowledge. These people often work in
science fields as well.

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Extroverted Extroverted feeling refers to connecting; considering others and the group-
Feeling organizing to meet their needs and honor their values and feelings;
maintaining societal, organizational, or group values; adjusting to and
accommodating others; deciding if something is appropriate or acceptable to
others.
These people base their judgements on factual, known information. They
form their assessments on social values and beliefs. These people often work
in business fields and politics.
Introverted Introverted feeling means valuing; considering importance and worth;
Feeling reviewing for incongruity; evaluating something based on the truths on which
it is based; clarifying values to achieve accord; deciding if something is of
significance and worth standing up for.
They base their feelings on emotions, feelings and beliefs. These people often
work in the art field.
Extroverted Extroverted Sensing refers to experiencing the immediate context; taking
Sensing action in the physical world; noticing changes and opportunities for action;
accumulating experiences; scanning for visible reactions and relevant data.
These individuals look at the world and interpret reality. They see what is
going and go with it. They are not influenced by other opinions. These people
often work as taste-testers or proof-readers.
Introverted Introverted Sensing involves reviewing past experiences; "what is" evoking
Sensing "what was"; seeking detailed information and links to what is known;
recalling stored impressions; accumulating data; recognizing the way things
have always been.
Introverts at times look for a hidden message or meaning to something. They
do not just look at something and see it being there without a reason. These
meanings are based on internal reflection. These people often work in the art
field as well.
Extroverted Extroverted Intuition refers to interpreting situations and relationships;
Intuitive picking up meanings and interconnections; being drawn to change "what is"
for "what could possibly be"; noticing what is not said and threads of meaning
emerging across multiple contexts.
These people base their meanings of things on facts rather than feelings. They
are usually inventors.

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Introverted Introverted Intuition leads people to foreseeing implications and likely effects
Intuitive without external data; realizing "what will be"; conceptualizing new ways of
seeing things; envisioning transformations; getting an image of profound
meaning or far-reaching symbols.
Introverted Intuitives usually base their decisions on their inner desires. They
find warmth through subjective ideas. These people usually work as artists or
religious figures.

Ambivert
While explaining personality through the term Introvert and Extrovert, there is reference of
a third term called Ambivert which is a relatively new term. Jung did not use the word to
explain that there is no such thing as a pure introvert or extrovert. This concept was
supported by many other later psychologists. Ambiverts reflect a blend of traits from the
introvert as well as the extrovert along with having some specific strengths. Thus, an
ambivert can be defined as someone who falls in the middle of the introvert/extrovert
continuum. An ambivert is moderately comfortable with groups and social interaction, but
also relishes time alone, away from a crowd. In simpler words, an ambivert is a person
whose behaviour changes according to the situation she/he is in.

9.1.6 Big Five Theory of Personality

Another important trait approach which can provide essential insights into the key elements
of personality is of the Big Five Factor personality model offered by Paul Costa and Robert
McCrae. The five personality traits also known as the Five Factor Model of Personality and
sometimes referred as OCEAN. The five domains or traits represented by the acronym
OCEAN, are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

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Let us try to understand the attributes of each of the five personality factors on a continuum
leading from high reflected characteristics at one end to low reflected characteristics at the
other .
Openness to Experience (Imaginative vs Narrow Interest):
Openness refers to dimension of personality which ranges from being imaginative,
humorous, intellectual, creative, curious, having broad interests, open to ideas at one end to
being closed to experience, suspicious and rigid at the other. In sports, athletes or
Individuals scoring high on Openness are characterized by reflection of demonstrating new
ideas and skill execution initiatives along with wide variety in ideas.
EXTRAVERSION (Enthusiastic vs Reserved)
Extraversion refers to dimension of personality which ranges from having enthusiasm,
energy, positive emotions, talkativeness, assertiveness at one end to being reserved, sober
and cautious at the other. An individual who scored high on extraversion is characterized by
high sociability, is outgoing and has a tendency to seek stimulation in the company of
others. Those who score low on extraversion prefer solitude or smaller groups, prefer
activities alone, and avoid large social situations. Not surprisingly people who score high on
both extraversion and openness are more likely to participate in adventure and risky sports
due to their curious and excitement seeking nature.
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS (Organized vs Easy-going)
Conscientiousness refers to well-organised, careful, responsible, hardworking and
dependable individuals at one end to being relaxed and easy going, spontaneous,
disorganized and careless. Numerous studies have found to have a positive correlation
between conscientiousness and cognition, individuals high on conscientiousness have been

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found to perform better in academics as well as in the sports arena wherever planning,
organising skills and decision-making abilities are essential to the task.
AGREABLENESS (Friendly vs Un-Cooperative)
Agreeableness refers to compassionate behaviour of an individual. Dimensions of
agreeableness range from being good-natured, cooperative, trusting at one end to being
suspicious, irritable and uncooperative at the other. It is also a measure of a person’s helpful
and friendly behaviour nature and reflects whether that person is generally friendly and
nurturing or not. People who score low on agreeableness tend to be antagonistic towards
others and are described as rude and unkind.
NEUROTICISM (Composed vs Nervous)
Neuroticism focusses on the emotional stability on an individual. This trait refers to
dimensions of personality which range from being poised, calm and composed at one end to
nervous, anxious and excitable at the other. Individuals reflecting high neuroticism are
characterized by the tendency to experience unpleasant emotions, and are often found to
demonstrate impulsive and hostile behaviour. In contrast, people who score low in
neuroticism tend to be calm and even-tempered. Athletes’ sports performances are highly
influenced by neurotic characteristics and modern findings supports exercise and physical
activity as an alternate therapy to manage neurotic behaviours.

BIG 5 Traits Behaviour for High Score Behavoiur for low score
OPENNESS Curious, Imaginative, Dislikes change, Does not enjoy
Intellectual, Creative, Open to new things, Resists new ideas
trying new things, Focused
on tackling new challenges, Not very imaginative, Dislikes
Thinks about abstract abstract or theoretical concepts
concepts
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS Well-Organised, careful, Disorganised, careless, relaxed,
responsible, self-disciplined easy going

EXTRAVERSION Active, optimistic, sociable, Sober; reserved , cautious ,

interactive , affectionate

AGGREEABLENESS Good Natured, friendly, Irritable, suspicious, rude,

helpful, trusting, cooperative uncooperative

NEUROTICISM Insecure, nervous, anxious, Calm, composed, poised, Hardy,

excitable Secure

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I. Tick the correct answers
1. Endomorph body type according to Sheldon is
(a) a round body
(b) a pear-shaped body
(c) a wedge-shaped body
(d) a lean and thin body
2. Which body type can be characterized by a round body and jovial personality?
(a) endomorph
(b) ectomorph
(c) mesomorph
(d) graphomorph
3. A person who is bold and outgoing is an
(a) Introvert
(b) Extrovert
(c) Ambivert
(d) Somatotype
II. Answer the following questions briefly.
1. Define Personality?
2. What does OCEAN represent according to Big Five Theory of Personality?
3. Comment upon Allport’s Theory of Personality.
III. Answer the following questions in 150-200 words.
1. Differentiate between Introvert and Extrovert personality?
2. What are the types of personality traits according to the Big Five Theory? Explain with
their importance in physical education and sports.

9.2.1 Motivation
Let us re-visit our initial discussion once again. Why did some athlete keep playing without
worrying about pain, discomfort of training, injury or even academic pressure? On the other
hand, why did many talented athletes stop participating after initial failures?
Let us consider the two important questions.
1. What motivates a player to behave in a certain way?

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2. How to motivate an athlete to perform better?
To answer the questions above, let us start from understanding of the concept ‘motivation’.
The term ‘Motivation’ is derived from Latin word Movere meaning ‘to move’. The basic
reason for any human activity is nothing else but motivation. Motivation is the driving force
that spurs a person to action It can be explained as a process to initiate, guide and maintain
behaviour over time as defined by Robert Baron (2008). Motivation can also be defined
simply as the direction and intensity of effort. Truly, motivation is a process of inspiring,
guiding the organism to move in a particular direction.
From the above definitions, we can understand motivation is influenced by two factors:
Objective and Direction. The first factor ‘objective’ explains the ‘why’ of an action or
behaviour, whereas the second factor ‘Direction’ explain ‘what’ of an action or behaviour.
The ‘why’ or objective for a behaviour helps to find the reason for initiating a behaviour. The
motives or drives to arouse and initiate an action or behaviour may be different for different
individuals. The direction is about ‘what’ an individual wants to do, ‘what’ they plan to
achieve. If either objective or direction is lacking for an action or behaviour, ultimately the
quality of action or achievement suffers. It means, to achieve the desired goal you need to
have a purpose or desire which activates you towards initiating a task in a particular
direction and seeking behaviours to be persistent with enough fuel and energy till the goal is
achieved. This leads us to find which are the various motivating forces which energize us
towards selection of meaningful tasks with tangible goals that make an individual persist at
a task till new skills are developed or performance mastery has been achieved as perceived
with reasonable expectations. Hence, we can safely conclude that motivation is one of the
determinants of behaviour. Instincts, drives, needs, goals, and incentives come under the
broad cluster of motivation.
What then is ‘motivation’? Psychologists now use the concept of need to describe the
motivational properties of behaviour. A need is lack or deficit of some necessity. The
condition of need leads to drive. A drive is a state of tension or arousal produced by a need.
It energises random activity.

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When one of the random activities leads to a goal, it reduces the drive, and the organism
stops being active. The organism returns to a balanced state. Study the diagram given
below.
What is it, then, that arouses the organism to action? How does one get this drive? The
answer can be found in the two terms ‘Intrinsic’ and ‘Extrinsic’ motivation. Intrinsic
motivation involves doing something because it's personally rewarding to you. It emerges
from within and is directly linked with the natural instincts based on feelings of joy and
satisfaction. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, involves doing something because you
want to earn a reward or avoid punishment. Thus, extrinsic motives involve outside forces.
Let us find out more about the type of motivation and see how motivation is an important
aspect in sports and exercise psychology.

Do you know?
A motivation A state of lacking any motivation to engage in an activity, characterized by a
lack of perceived competence and/or a failure to value the activity or its outcomes.
Intrinsic Motivation When you pursue an activity for the pure enjoyment of it, you are
doing so because you are intrinsically motivated.
Extrinsic Motivation refers to behaviour that is driven by external rewards such as money,
fame, grades, and praise.

9.2.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation: The word intrinsic is derived from the French word ‘intrinseque’ which
means inward. Intrinsic is also referred as internal motivation which drives an individual
from within to naturally pursue actions that provide fun, pleasure, fulfilment or challenge. If
an individual’s behaviour reflects a desire to pursue an action for enjoyment, or the
individual continues the activity in a consistent manner because it provides a feeling of
satisfaction, these can be identified as intrinsic motivation factors towards the directed
behaviour. Intrinsic motivation includes satisfaction of needs felt by the individual which
comes from inside or within and is directly linked to the individual’s instincts or urges.
Intrinsically motivated individuals are fully self- determined and characterized by naturally
getting interested in the activity to seek enjoyment, novelty and challenge in performing the
action or activity. Thus, in intrinsically motivated behaviours, the reward is the activity itself.
Just as we have biological needs that we’re driven to pursue in order to live and be healthy,
we also have psychological needs that must be satisfied in order to develop and thrive.
These include the need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Along with satisfying
these underlying psychological needs, intrinsic motivation also involves seeking out and
engaging in activities that we find challenging, interesting, and internally rewarding without
the prospect of any external reward. Participation in sports as a natural urge is an example

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of internal motivation if participation is directly associated with natural impulse of the
athlete to play and participate in actions that create joy and happiness. People taking to
exercise and exploring their capabilities through suitable and enjoyable tasks and activities
is an example of motivation emerging from within and is referred to as intrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic Motivation: The word extrinsic is derived from the Latin word ‘entrinsecus’ which
means outward. Just as its meaning suggests, extrinsic motivation is that in which the source
of satisfaction does not come from within and the behaviour is not due to natural urges or
impulses. Instead, the behaviour or action is influenced by external forces or drives. The
reasons for action are not part of an individual’s character, but are due to urges from
outside such as prize, money, praise, or even punishment. An individual participates or
engages in activities because those tasks are linked with various external rewards such as
trophies or promotions and they are obliged to continue with the task even if it is not in
their natural character, because the driving force is not interest but rewards. Since external
factors guide the behaviours and actions, therefore extrinsic motivation it is also considered
as controlling form of motivation. Participation in sports to win a medal or prize instead of
an innate urge is an example of extrinsic motivation. In sports, extrinsic motivation is
reflected when athletes train or learn new skills not because of natural impulse but for
various external rewards associated with medals, trophies, certificates and recognitions.

Extension Activity
Talk to a friend who is an athlete and try to find what motivated him to participate in sports
Read the below mentioned responses and identify the statements which most closely suit
your friend’s reason to participate:
1. Doesn’t know why he plays and that he doesn’t see any particular benefit associated
with it.
2. To learn new skill of the sports.
3. To gain skill mastery and perfection.
4. Find joy and happiness in participation.
5. Perform to obtain a reward or trophy in the championship.
6. To make the coach happy for getting the best athlete ward in school.
7. Participate to avoid pressure from the family.
The response of your friend reflects the following about his motivation.
If YES to:
Item 1: Reflects Amotivation
Item 2, 3, 4: he/ she is Intrinsically motivation
Item 5,6,7: he/ she is Extrinsically motivation

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Difference between Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic Motivation

Definition Driving force to pursue an action Driving force to pursue an action due to
for fun, joy or any other inner reward, trophy, money, promotions or
satisfaction praise
Factors Internal factors like joy, External factors like reward, promotion,
enjoyment praise
Method Goal Setting strategies, Family and Associating success with future benefits,
Community support awards, promotions and avenues.
Benefits Long term benefit of maintaining a Helpful to initiate or create a drive
behaviour towards a desired behaviour when internal
factors are missing.

9.2.3 Motivation Techniques

Motivation is the process in which the learner’s internal energies or needs are directed
towards various goal objects in his environment. In other words, it is the driving force which
increases the desire to perform better. Every individual has certain basic motives or needs
that she/he tries to satisfy. As long as one is satisfied with one’s present behaviour and
knowledge and finds it adequate to satisfy all her/his needs, she/he will not try to change
his behaviour or acquire new knowledge. To learn something new, firstly there must be a
goal that attracts us and secondly there must be some obstacle that keeps us away from
attaining that goal. The reason is simple, because if there is no obstacle in our way, our
present behaviour and the knowledge that we have already acquired would lead us directly
to our goals, and in such a situation there would be no need to learn. We modify our
behaviour only when there is a need to do so. This enables us to reach the goals that our
unsatisfied motives create. Motivation can be generated through various sources like family,
friends, relatives, teachers etc. Various motivational techniques can be used to help
individuals utilize the available sources available around them with maximum effectiveness.
In sports, motivation of athletes is of utmost importance and an essential aspect towards
success of any athlete. Let us try to understand some of the techniques used in sports to
motivate athletes by helping them to maintain their inner urges to continue training as well
by utilizing external factors to supplement their drive to prolong with the desired athlete
behaviours essential for sports performance.

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The motivational techniques are based on the following mentioned approaches.
Understanding of each approach will help in developing unique strategies to motivate
athletes towards desired behaviours.

1. Cognitive Approach: The active processing and interpretation of information

influences the persistent and purposive drive for action by an individual. It is based on
the notion that desired motivation can be achieved by an individual through active
processing and interpretation of information. Expectancy theory and Goal Setting
theory is widely used as a cognitive approach for motivation. Expectancy theory
explains that people are motivated for the task where the probability of success is
higher in comparison to failure. Whereas the goal-setting concept maintains that a
stronger drive for actions and behaviour is fuelled by quality of information on time
set for task attainment along with task difficulty level and specificity of the task.
(a) Time Bound: The task should be time bound
(b) Set Complexity level of task: Task should be neither too difficult nor too easy
(c) Make task Specific: Task instructions should be precise about what is to be done
(d) Define Purpose of task: Outcome of the task should be clear and defined.
2. Pedagogical Approach: Teaching coaching pedagogies used in sports training for
planned outcome is largely responsible in guiding and maintaining the desired
behaviour of athletes. Adequate communication and maintenance of positive
relationship during training is an essential component influencing the motivation of
athletes towards a consistent action or behaviour. Making training enjoyable, engaging
athletes in decision making and providing valuable feedback to athletes are essential
components to motivation. Let us discuss few techniques of motivation using a
pedagogical approach.
(a) Guided Discovery Method: Athletes are highly motivated if allowed to find
solutions to the problems by themselves rather than if they are just made to do
things as per instruction. Lack of independence in decision making and non-

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 promotion of cohesive training environment for athletes are major reasons
affecting motivation. Cooperative learning with opportunities for athletes to
engage in decision making is an effective strategy towards motivation.
(b) Valuable Feedback System: To persuade athletes to push harder for a longer
period of time, they must be provided with a strong support system. Assisting
athletes with feedback which can provide them with specific direction to move in
is an effective means towards effective motivation.
(c) Fun-based Training: Training should be challenging and task-oriented for optimal
performance. However, for providing athletes with enough drive and energy to
sustain them, training methods should involve fun and enjoyment for athletes.
Adding creativity and innovation to training and the teaching-learning system
helps in adding motivation for athletes to persist with continuous demands of
training load.
(d) Individualized Training Program (ITP/IEP): All athletes are unique and respond
differently to the vast variety of training demands. Each athlete is a unique
individual and should have a training programme designed for their abilities and
capabilities and which is within attainable limits of the athletes. Individualized
training programmes or individualized education programmes are very essential
in sports to help athletes to set their own targets, challenges and difficulty levels
which will not only help them to avoid burnout, but also keep them motivated.
3. Social Support Strategy: Participation in sports and taking up exercise is greatly
influenced by an understanding of the social networking and perception of people
around them. Conducive exercise environment, creating drive among people to initiate
and maintain sporting behaviour is deeply affected by the societal pressure or support
provided to the individual. Positive social support from peer group, family members,
and friends helps in developing healthy habits and enough drive to maintain the act of
exercising. Initiating group activities and engagement of family and peers in sports
participation helps in increased participation in sports and exercise.
4. Facilitation Approach:
(a) Incentives and Rewards: Drive towards an action to maintain it for a long term
may sometimes need external support. Awards and rewards work effectively as a
motivation force for athletes to pursue sports with consistency and continuity.
(b) Valance of Reward: Many time prizes and awards are used extrinsic sources of
motivation to maintain a desired action or behaviour. But, at times, even these
may prove to be ineffective. It is essential to understand that external factors like
prize money or medals do motivate athletes, but the most important aspect is to

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 understand the need and expectation of the individual athlete, this is known as
‘valance’ of the reward or valuing the award. To be motivated, athletes must be
awarded by considering what is desired or expected by an individual so that he
or she can value that reward. An athlete may like to be rewarded by being made
the captain of the team and may value it more than being rewarded with a pay
hike.
(c) Performance appraisals: Motivation or the driving force for any desired
behaviour to last over a long period of time may need support of being
recognised and praised for the current and past endeavours. It creates the drive
for future action and pursuit of excellence with confidence among athletes. It
encourages them to plan their directions and actions. Regular appraisal of
performance should be provided to athletes and appropriate rewards given.
(d) Quality Support and Facilitation: Motivation for an action is influenced by the
amount of facilitation made available for athletes, but the impact is larger only if
the quality of support is of a high standard. Factors influencing or impacting the
desired behaviour of athletes need to studied, diagnosed and appropriate
support needs to be provided to ensure maintenance of behaviour of highest
standards.

9.2.4 Motivation and Sports

Motivation is an integral aspect of sports and exercise. The participation of an individual in
sports activities or involvement in regular exercise for fitness, health or any other reason
revolves around the forces that direct her/him towards that particular task. Therefore, it can
be said that motivation is central to sports and exercise studies and is an important area of
study in sports psychology. It is of great interest to athletes, coaches and parents. All
athletes, coaches, and parents want the best performance in sports and work towards
keeping their motivation level at the best by supporting them with all required resources
and essentials. Individuals get initiated towards exercise or athletes join sports clubs or
academies and continue till achievement of pre-determined objectives due to both internal
and external motivation. If an athlete participates in sports for fun and enjoyment, or an
individual continues with her/his exercise and fitness regime as it provides a feeling of
satisfaction or challenge, these can be identified as intrinsic motivations factors. On the
other hand, when an athlete participates in sports due to various incentives like cash, prize,
trophies, a job, promotion or even less tangible rewards such as praise and status, these can
be identified as extrinsic factors of motivation. Even if the motive for taking exercise or
participating in sports is to avoid punishment, it is a form of extrinsic motivation, as it is an
external force which influences the participation behaviour of an individual.

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 Extension Activity
Find out more about these athletes and what spurred them to such heights.

A large number of studies and discussions about conversion of intrinsic motivation into
extrinsic or vice- versa and benefits or issues associated with it, and with sports participation
and exercise behaviours haveshown overlapping or change in motivational factors. The
motivation reasons may reflect a shift from the initial intrinsic motivation to extrinsic
motivation later or from extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation over a period of time
due to change in conditions, situation or other personal factors. People many times start
with participation in exercise, physical activities and sports as it gives them pleasure, fun,
excitement, or they may also go for long distance running, tracking or skiing as these may be
challenging for them. While this initial intrinsic motivation as a factor may remain
unchanged over a long period of time for some individuals, for others the reasons to pursue
the same activity or task may change with a change in situation or need. Later, the same

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individual’s motivation to participate in sports may be guided by a desire to win awards or
professional contracts. When extrinsic motives like awards and rewards replace intrinsic
factors as primary reasons for engaging in an activity, it becomes difficult for an individual to
decide by herself/himself about when and where to participate in an activity. Her/His
behaviours, actions and decisions are determined by external motives and, she/he thus
experiences a loss of control. For example, children may start playing cricket for fun and
excitement, and may be motivated to practice and compete regularly at sports training
centres but may start feeling the burden of meeting the expectation of coaches and parents
to succeed, creating a blur between the internal and external motives. This creates a burden
on the participants to respond to the expectations to succeed. This conflict between the
motives to exercise or participate in sports usually leads to burnout and later to dropping
out from sports altogether.

Do you know?
Imagine being told that you will never walk again! That was what doctors told Kieran after
they removed a cancerous tumor from his thigh at the age of 10. The operation went badly,
so badly in fact, that he woke up screaming in pain from massive nerve damage. Up to then,
he had been crazy about gymnastics and was determined to become an Olympic champion.
But how could he do that when he could not even walk now and was confined to a
wheelchair?
Kieran was going to show them and he started on the long road to recovery. He was 15
months in a wheelchair but he persevered and was back in the gym. But within a few
months he slipped from the high bar and sustained a terrible head injury. He was so badly
injured that frequent blackouts happened when he literally blinked. He missed a whole year
at school but the gym was beckoning again. This time though, he had to overcome the
challenges of that awful injury. He had to retrain his brain and get back his co-ordination. He
returned to school using a walking stick and was cruelly taunted by his classmates.
It then took him three years to get back to where he had been before the awful accident.
But he suffered several fractures. Then another blow came when his knee snapped just after
he had been selected for the European Championships. Behan has said that was when he
was about to give up.
But he never gave up and succeeded in becoming the Challenge World Cup floor
champion.in 2011, and his greatest moment of glory was when he qualified for the London
2012 Olympics. He had become an Olympic athlete after being through terrible pain, trauma
and setbacks. A glorious example of the Olympic spirit.

Motivation as a guiding force to initiate, guide and maintain a behaviour desired for sports
participation and performance is well understood but still motivation remains as a
challenging task in sports.

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Researchers around the world have discussed the methods to maintain or increase
motivation of athletes, but little has been done to understand the reasons about why we
participate in an exercise or indulge in s activities. Summarizing the conclusions of different
research, four motives towards sports and exercise behaviour can be identified.
1. Physical wellbeing;
2. Psychological wellbeing;
3. Performance achievement;
4. Status and Power (assertive achievements).
All the motives mentioned above are intrinsic in nature and point towards the reason for
sports participation and exercise as being largely intrinsic in nature. People participate in
sports and exercise for various intrinsic motives but external motives can be added
wherever or whenever intrinsic motive is reduced.

I. Tick the correct answers.

1. Motivation that drives individuals to naturally pursue actions that provide fun, joy,
pleasure or challenge is called
(a) Extrinsic Motivation
(b) Amotivation
(c) Intrinsic Motivation
(d) Cognitive Motivation
2. Motivation through reward or praise is known as
(a) Intrinsic Motivation
(b) Extrinsic Motivation
(c) Pedagogical Motivation
(d) Facilitation Motivation
3. Which of the following is NOT a feature of Intrinsic Motivation?
(a) goals
(b) feedback
(c) needs
(d) attitudes
II. Answer the following questions briefly.
1. Define Motivation.

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2. Differentiate between Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation.
3. Write a short note on any two techniques of motivation.
III. Answer the following questions in 150-200 words.
1. How can a coach strategize in motivating an athlete to keep performing?
2. How does motivating a sports person affect games and sports and how do games and
sports influence a player’s motivation?

9.3.1 Exercise Adherence

“If exercise could be packed into a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and
beneficial medicine in the nation” – Dr Rober Butler, Former Director, National Institute of
Ageing.
What is it that is a common prescription for prevention and treatment of all types of
physical ailments, diseases, mental and social disorders faced by humans? There could
be no better ‘Magic Pill’ other than ‘exercise’. Let us then try and understand why it is
difficult to interest a large percentage of the population in taking this magic pill. And what is
it that makes it difficult for people, who start taking this Magic Pill, continue with it for a
lifetime. People are less active nowadays, partly because technology has made our lives
easier. We drive cars or take public transport. Machines wash our clothes. We entertain
ourselves in front of a TV or computer screen. Fewer people are doing manual work, and
most of us have jobs that involve little physical effort. We move around less and burn off
less energy than people used to. Inactivity has been described as a "silent killer". Evidence is
emerging that sedentary behaviour, such as sitting or lying down for long periods, is bad for
health.

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Not only should you try to raise your activity levels, but you should also reduce the amount
of time you and your family spend sitting down. "Previous generations were active more
naturally through work and manual labour, but today we have to find ways of integrating
activity into our daily lives," says a health expert.
As we get used to a sedentary life, we tend to exercise less. Even if we take up exercise
plans or join a Gym, we do not stick to it, but give up after a few months.
Let us examine the importance of exercise and the concept of ‘exercise adherence’.
Concept of Exercise Adherence
Purposeful exercise and regular participation in physical activity are among the most
important components of lifestyle, especially for older persons. Incorporating regular
physical activity in the lifestyle is considered an important behaviour that may yield benefits
especially for maintaining physical and psychological well-being. While research has shown
older persons who actively participate in a long-term exercise program appear to have a
good quality of life, regrettably, majority of the old people around the world lead a
sedentary lifestyle with very little knowledge regarding the importance of physical activity.
One of the major issues related to participation in an exercise programme is the adherence
to such a programme.
The word adherence is described by the Oxford Dictionary as the fact of behaving according
to a particular rule, etc., or of following a particular set of beliefs, or a fixed way of doing
something. Thus, in the simplest term exercise adherence refers to the extent to which the
individual maintains an active involvement in physical exercise and acts in accordance
with the advised interval, exercise dose, and exercise dosing regimen despite opportunities
and pressures to withdraw. Exercise adherence, therefore, refers not just initiation but also
maintenance of physical activity and exercise behaviour according to individualized need
and requirement. It is associated to the ‘stickability’ factor which is related with quality of
any athlete or participants to continue with sports, exercise or any other physical activity
without losing the motivation to pursue it further. So, exercise adherence can also be
referred as a self- regulated, voluntary behaviour directed towards maintaining an
exercise routine for a prolonged period of time after initial phase of adoption. It is
important as well as interesting to understand the reasons why people adhere to exercise
and the forces that push athletes towards initiating sports participation.

9.3.2 Reason to Exercise

Reason to exercise or exercise determinants point towards the importance of motives of an
individual towards initiating and adopting exercise as a part of her/his lifestyle. We find
many people around us with different behaviours towards exercise and physical activity and
each behaviour can be associated with its own reason for adherence or non-adherence. We

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may find many people who have not initiated exercise or even thought of exercise and
physical activity in near future, or those who think of starting exercise in the near future but
are not able to initiate the programme, and still others who started or initiated an exercise
programme but were not able to continue or adhere to it for long and dropped out. Why
people find a reason to exercise, participate in fitness and engage in recreation sports can
be understood by the following aspects:

1. Overcoming Social Physique Anxiety: People in the society are influenced by how
other perceive them in-term of their looks, fitness or body shape, weight and size. This
leads to adoption of various means and methods to make them lean and fitter. Exercise
combined with proper diet can help people attain their goal to be lean and fit thus
helping overcoming social physique anxiety with the means of exercise, fitness and
recreation sports program engagement.

2. Reduced risk of disease: Lifestyle factors does play an important role toward rise of
various contemporary health issues. Hypertension, obesity are major health concerns in
the modern day due to increase in facilities and urbanization leading to limited physical
engagements, lack of physical activity and promotion of sedentary lifestyle. To
overcome the sedentary lifestyle, adoption of exercise and fitness are considered to
be essential and important.

3. Recreation : With change in lifestyle and devotion of more hours on table chair task,
engagement in serious academics, focus on professional pathways, individuals are
facing with the challenge of finding time and activity for recreation, fun and
enjoyment. Recreation sports, fitness and exercise provide fun, enjoyment, recreation
along with the physical benefits, thus recreation being considered as an essential
reason to exercise.

4. Mental Relaxation: There are various means and methods adopted for stress reduction
and mental relaxation by people of all segments, demography, age groups. Exercise is
one of the most effective ways to cope with stress and depression more
economically and with tremendous benefits to the society. Therefore, people
participation in exercise for mental relaxation as a reason is relevant.

5. Socialization: Often people look for opportunities to engage with community and
socialize with friends, peer groups, colleagues etc from their busy life. The engagement
with society members are essential to overcome social isolation, tackle loneliness which
can affect their mental health and prevent camaraderie spirit among peoples of the
society. Especially in the modern lifestyle and with urbanization leading to less time
available for social connect, the most effective way to connect socially is through
participation in team sports, group exercises program and various other fitness
programs. Thus socialization qualifies as a reason for people to engage and experience
exercise and sports programs.

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9.3.3 Benefits of Exercise
1. Health Benefits: There has been evidence of humans working hard and putting in
physical effort for their survival and better life since early times. Even today people
across the world desire to lead a healthy life and consider health as the most essential
aspect of life. With the change in living conditions and transformation in contemporary
lifestyle, engaging in physical activity, exercise and sports has a prominence as a
chosen activity or preferred behaviour among people to keep themselves healthy.
Modern lifestyle has given rise to health issues associated with weight management
and cardiovascular diseases, for which engaging in physical activity and exercise is
essential. Exercise is the miracle cure we've always had, but for too long we've
neglected to take our recommended dose. Our health is now suffering as a
consequence. Whatever the age, there's strong scientific evidence that being
physically active can help you lead a healthier and happier life. People who exercise
regularly have a lower risk of developing many long-term (chronic) conditions, such as
heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and some cancers. Research shows that physical
activity can also boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing
your risk of stress, depression, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
(a) Reduces risk of Cardiovascular Disease: Exercise and a regular cardio-fitness
regime has a significant role in preventing various cardiovascular diseases like
hypertension and coronary heart disease. Exercise strengthens the heart and
improves circulation. The increased blood flow raises oxygen levels in the body.
This helps lower risk of heart diseases such as high cholesterol, coronary artery
disease, and heart attack. Regular exercise can also lower blood pressure and
triglyceride levels. Exercise can lower blood sugar levels and help insulin work
better. This can cut down risk for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. And if
someone already is suffering from one of those diseases, exercise can help
her/him to manage it.
(b) Weight Management: Living in a society where physical appearance is
important, individuals take to exercise from a desire to keep themselves in
shape. Though they may experiment with other methods for losing weight like
dieting and calorie control etc., but these methods alone not found to be
effective for weight reduction unless regular exercise is not combined with diet
control. Along with diet, exercise plays an important role in controlling weight
and preventing obesity. To maintain body weight, the caloric intake must equal
the energy one burns. To lose weight, one must use more calories than one takes
in. Thus, regular physical activity and an active lifestyle are significant methods
for effective weight management.

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 (c) Strengthens Bones and Muscles. Regular exercise helps build strong bones. Later
in life, it can also slow the loss of bone density that comes with age. Doing
muscle- strengthening activities can help you increase or maintain your muscle
mass and strength.
(d) Reduces risk of some Cancers. Exercise reduces risk of cancers like cancers of the
colon, breast, uterus, and lungs.
(e) Reduces risk of Falls. For older adults, research shows that doing balance and
muscle- strengthening activities in addition to moderate-intensity aerobic activity
can help reduce your risk of falling.
2. Provides Stress Relief: Modern lifestyle with its work pressure and competitive
lifestyle leads to a lot of stress. The physical effects of prolonged stress are numerous,
including a greater susceptibility to illness, a lack of energy, problems with sleep,
headaches, poor judgment, weight gain, depression, anxiety, and a host of other ills. In
fact, chronic stress can be the culprit behind heart disease, type 2 diabetes and an
upset stomach. Physical activity, recreational sports and exercise are effective coping
strategies for relief from stress and disorders from everyday life. Yoga and aerobic
exercise are a good way of combating stress.
3. Increases Happiness: It has been evident to find people engaged in physical activity for
various extrinsic goals like weight loss, improving physical appearance etc. but there
are people who prefer to exercise and engage in physical activities like recreation
sports or adventure sports due to their innate nature to experience joy, happiness and
satisfaction. During exercise, the body increases the production of endorphins which
are known to help produce positive feelings and can improve the mood and make the
individual feel relaxed and happy.
4. Promotes Self-Efficacy: Self-efficacy is the belief that one is capable of achieving a
specific goal. Regular exercise and participation in sports is largely associated with an
individual’s belief in her/his abilities to complete physical tasks, achieve determined
goals and produce challenging outcomes. People with high self-efficacy tend to initiate
exercise and physical activity with a positive approach and respond positively to
regular engagement in sports and exercise demands. They also demonstrate a greater
degree of exercise adherence than others.
5. Promotes Social Cohesion: Human beings are social animals who prefer to engage in
group activities because it given them opportunity to socialize and interact with other
people. As a result, many people engage in exercise behaviour and sports
participation. Sports and group exercise programmes also prevent boredom and social
isolation by helping participants feel connected with the society and community
around them as team mates, opponents or even as spectators. Group cohesion

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 developed among participants of exercise group and sporting members acts as one of
the important reasons for exercise.
6. Enhances Value Orientation: Knowledge and understanding about a healthy lifestyle
and importance of regular physical activity creates a value orientation among
individuals to initiate exercise and later continue with exercise behaviour. Value
orientations represent philosophical beliefs. Values inculcated by physical activity and
exercise include discipline, enhanced learning process, self-actualization, social
responsibility and ecological integration.
7. Cognitive Benefits: Regular aerobic activities lead to a positive improvement in
attention control and information processing speed. Exercise can improve brain
function and protect memory and thinking skills. Exercise increases heart rate,
promoting the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain. It can also stimulate the
production of hormones that can enhance the growth of brain cells. Exercise has been
shown to cause the hippocampus, a part of the brain that's vital for memory and
learning, to grow in size. This serves to increase mental function.
(a) Attention Control: Regular physical activity and exercise help improve attention
and concentration among people of all ages. Physical exercise at a moderate
level also revealed positive effects and benefits among the participants.
(b) Improves Memory: Physical activities have been known to enhance intelligence
especially among children. Even among the elderly, even a small amount of
physical activity delays memory loss. Exercise has been shown to reduce changes
in the brain that can cause Alzheimer's disease.
8. Mental Health Benefits: A session of jogging or any physical activity has the possibility
of mood enhancement and increasing the feel-good factor. Issues associated with
depressions, anxiety etc. can be resolved with regular physical activity and exercise.
(a) Exercise as therapy for emotional disorder: Physical activity is an effective
intervention for various mental disorders like depression and anxiety. Exercise
therapy has been able to produce improved mood, enhanced self-esteem and
thereby, increase productivity.
(b) Fitness as moderator of life stress: Regular physical activity helps in creating a
positive attitude towards work by developing higher ability to cope with stress
and tension.
(c) Runners High: Participating in regular physical activity promotes a high sense of
mental alertness, mood upliftment, a feeling of liberation, suppressed discomfort
and heightened well-being.

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9. Psychological Well-being: Participation in regular physical activity, sports and exercise
brings positive changes in the mental and physical well-being of an individual. Exercise
leads to changes in blood flow to brain, increase in oxygen consumption, reduction in
muscular tension, improved metabolism, creating a feeling of wellbeing. Participation
in physical activity and exercise promotes positive social interactions, improved self-
esteem, feeling of competency, along with an opportunity for fun and joy. All these
collectively develop a sense of enhanced well-being among individuals engaged with
physical activity.
10. Personality Enhancement: Participation in physical activity and exercise has revealed
significant influence on personality. Regular participation and long-term engagement
in physical activities especially at young age (before maturity) reflects greater
extraversion and stability among participants, which are very important characteristics
or traits of personality.
11. Develops Leadership Qualities: Engagement in an exercise programme and
participation in sports provides opportunity for individuals to experience adversities
and opportunities to learn from compensating various deficiencies like lack of space,
inadequate logistics, adverse conditions and still persist with prolonged activities, so
developing qualities of leadership. Sports and exercise opportunities teach individuals
to be equally effective in variety of situations and conditions with ability to create
variations in similar conditions too, developing another important aspect of a leader.
12. Special Population:
(a) Clinical Population: People with intellectual disabilities of all age groups and
have found to derive significant benefits from regular participation in physical
activity. Psychomotor activities help them in enhancement their skills in activities
related to daily living too.
(b) Elderly Population: Ageing is a process which is observed to be delayed among
the people who are regular participants of physical activity even of an acute
nature. Even low intensity bouts of exercise prove to be helpful in slowing down
of the ageing process among the elderly.

9.4.1 Strategies for Enhancing Adherence to Exercise

Psychologists and therapists around the world have widely professed the benefits of
exercise. Although most people do understand the importance of physical activity and
regular exercise, yet a large percentage of them have either not initiated exercise
behaviour, or, if a few opted for exercise, they couldn’t continue it and dropped out.
Therefore, its essential to discuss the strategies for enhancing adherence to exercise.

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1. Goal setting: A moderate bout of acute exercise (20-30 min) is considered to be
beneficial for improving positive psychological effects of exercise. Exercise performed
above lactate threshold (LT) is perceived as unpleasant and the participant may like to
discontinue it due to overexertion and discomfort. Therefore, along with setting of
SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time based – goals. It is also
essential to make the goals flexible or reversible to prevent drop-outs and help
participants engage in prolonged participation with added fun and satisfaction. Studies
show that documenting the necessary steps required to achieve your specific goal
helps in exercise adherence.
2. Adding variety to exercise: Lack of new variety of exercise may lead to boredom and
dropping out. Boredom can be tackled with the addition of a variety of exercises and
moves that address the same body issues, without loss of therapeutic benefits. Adding
variety to the exercise program through adoption of new strategies, changing
methods, using new equipment, re-inventing logistics and adding new members can
induce fresh energy to the exercising activity, thus enhance adherence to exercise.
Even changing the duration, intensity, frequency along with change in venue and
mode of exercising also go a long way in maintaining interest and promoting long-term
adherence to exercise behaviour.
3. Social support enhancement: Increasing social support refers to engagement of
friends or other members who can contribute towards positive participation in
physical activity, exercise and sports because social interaction may help fuel goal
achievement and thus produce good results. Creating of a system of buddy partner,
youth leader, mentor where members of family, a classmate or a friend or relative can
be engaged as a motivator and flag bearer for exercise. This creates a strong social
support system for enhanced participation experience for athletes and those who are
engaged in exercise behaviour.
4. Contract: While acute bout of exercise has been associated with positive effects,
chronic exercise habits or regular exercise behaviour are important for maintaining
these benefits. Therefore, promoting participants for signing an intent to comply
through a written contract which has specified expectations, responsibilities and
contingencies for behavioural changes have found to be more effective in exercise
adherence among the participants.
5. Reinforcement Interventions: Positive as well as negative reinforcement approaches
have found to be effective in exercise adherence. Use of incentives and rewards for
appreciating attendance and participation or awarding with badges have been proved
effective in maintaining exercise behaviour among participants as well as motivation
from many to initiate and engage in physical activity.

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6. Feedback: Providing feedback to the participants in physical activity provides much
needed direction and energy for prolonging and continuing exercise behaviour.
Individualized feedback to the participants on the quality of progress and other
positive aspects about them can create higher levels of motivation and prove effective
towards exercise adherence.
7. Process Orientation: Exercise programmes based on outcome goals or product goals
like weight loss, physique and appearance etc. are found to be effective in the initial
stages of exercise adoption, but it is difficult to maintain the drive with prolonged
exercise behaviour. Helping people to shift from process goals to product goals which
are more intrinsic in nature will be more helpful towards becoming lifelong exercisers.
8. Problem Solving: This intervention is based around identifying the obstacles and
barriers that stand between the participant and her/his physical activity goals. It is
important to generate and implement solutions, evaluate the outcomes and choose
different solutions if needed.
9. Health Risk Appraisals: Health risk appraisals of participants provide them with
relevant information about their current health, risk factors and level of fitness. This
helps to enhance motivation and can be used to monitor changes over time. It can also
help with regards to the goal setting process as areas they need to improve are
identified.
10. Health Education: It is important that participants seek information from experts on
the benefits of exercise, proper exercise techniques and the results that should be
expected during exercise. This will ensure that they truly understand why and what
they are doing and it will give them the confidence and motivation required to
participate in long-term physical activity as well as to prevent injury or
discouragement. Research has also expressed the importance of health-care provider’s
and influence they have over participant’s physical activity and the implementation of
the aforementioned interventions.
I. Tick the correct answers.
1. Which of the following is effective for prevention of Coronary Heart Disease?
(a) Regular Exercise
(b) Sedentary Lifestyle
(c) Medicine
(d) Dieting
2. Which one of the following is NOT a result of regular exercise?
(a) Increased bone density

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 (b) Increased cholesterol level.
(c) Strong immune system.
(d) Increased longevity.
3. Normally people do not adhere to a regular exercising programme due to
(a) lack of proper goals
(b) adding a variety of exercises
(c) social support enhancement
(d) feedback from instructor
II. Answer the following questions briefly.
1. Briefly list the benefits of exercise.
2. Mention the strategies to enhance exercise adherence.
3. What are the psychological benefits of exercise? Explain.
III. Answer the following questions in 150-200 words.
1. Explain the various reasons to exercise.

9.5.1 Aggression
Players convicted of on-field violence British boxer disqualified after biting
opponent during heavyweight bout
We have to delve back to 1988 to find the A British heavyweight boxing match ended in
first example in the English game of a chaos after a fighter bit his opponent and
footballer being convicted in a court of law was disqualified on Saturday. The 10-round
over on-field violence. In this case, Sky bout between David Price and Kash Ali at
Sports' excitable pundit Chris Kamara was Liverpool's MandS Bank Arena came to its
the culprit; 'Kammy', then of Swindon Town, abrupt conclusion the 27-year- old Ali
caught Shrewsbury Town's Jim Melrose with grabbed hold of his opponent before falling
his elbow, breaking Melrose's cheekbone in on top of him. He then bit Price near his rib
the process. cage.

Do try to remember any sports match where players have been highlighted in media,
newspapers or by commentators for hitting the opponents or abusing the officials,
spectators or their own team members and being referred to as displaying unsporting and

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aggressive behaviour. Surely, we can recollect various occasions when athletes’ behaviour
on the field has been aggressive. In cricket, a bowler bowling a bouncer or intimidating a
batsman by walking down the pitch towards him threateningly, a batsman’s offensive
reaction towards the umpire after his dismissal are few examples of aggressive behaviour.
Why do athletes become aggressive on or off the field? What are the different behaviour
outcomes associated with aggressive behaviour? How can these be reduced? These are the
few important questions which most of the teachers, coaches and even parents, who deal
with athletes of different age groups are worried about. Let us try to understand the
concept of aggression as accepted by the world of psychology and used by sports
professionals in the past several years.

Do you know?
Aggression – Aggression is behaviour that is hostile and violates other people's rights.
Reactive aggressive behaviour is unplanned and impulsive, and is usually a response to
feelings of anger, fear, or a need to retaliate against someone.
Proactive aggressive behaviour is calculated and planned action that has some motive
other than harming someone.

According to the American Psychological Association, aggression is a type of behaviour

aimed at causing physical or psychological harm to another. Most psychologist refer to
aggression as any behaviour intended to harm or injure any living being who is trying to
avoid it. This definition includes three important features. First, aggression is a behaviour
that can be seen. It is not an emotion that occurs inside a person, such as anger. Thus,
aggression is a behaviour and needs to be distinguished from anger which is an emotional
expression towards someone we feel has done something wrong. Anger, again. need not be
expressed through harm or destruction, but aggressive behaviour will have an intent to
cause physical or mental harm. Second, aggression is intentional. Aggression is not
accidental. It is a deliberate behaviour to harm or injure and can be either physical or
psychological, ie., hitting, pushing or abusing someone purposely, with an intent to hurt.
Third, the victim wants to avoid the harm.
Sport psychologist Gill (2000) produced a four-part criterion which aimed to help us
interpret whether an action is aggressive in sport. His criteria were:
 There must be physical or verbal behaviour.
 It must involve causing harm or injury whether it is physical or psychological.
 It must be directed toward another living thing.
 There must be the intention to cause harm or injury.

Few more definitions of aggression:

Behaviour that results in personal injury or destruction of property. (Bandura, 1973)8

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Behaviour directed towards the goal of harming or injuring another living being who is
motivated to avoid such treatment. (Baron and Richardson, 1994)9
The intentional infliction of some form of harm on others. (Baron and Byrne, 2000)10
During last many years much debate and deliberations have been made in the field of sports
and exercise psychology as well as sports sciences towards an acceptable definition of
aggression. An acceptable concept of aggression along with its two types of aggression has
been cited by Husman and Silva in 1984 as ‘hostile’ and ‘instrumental’ aggression to
differentiate between two types of aggression.

9.5.2 Types of Aggression

1. Hostile Aggression: The term ‘hostile’ refers to being ‘opposed’, therefore hostile
aggression refers to violent and angry behaviour where the intent and primary goal is
to harm the other. A boxer who punches the opponent below the belt with the
primary aim of injuring him because he is losing or an athlete who uses abusive words
to mentally harm another player who has angered him with better skills are examples
of hostile aggression. Hostile aggression is a type of aggression that is committed in
response to a perceived threat or insult. It is unplanned, reactionary, impulsive, and
fuelled by intense emotion as opposed to desire to achieve a goal. Aggressors
typically have a sense of a loss of control during outbursts, and characteristically
experience physiological hyperarousal. Thus, it is also sometimes known as reactive
aggression. In the examples given above, the intent of action is to physically or
mentally harm the other person due to dislike, enmity or due to the person being on
the opposing team or side. Along with the intent, the goal is also to harm the other,
therefore non-legitimate measures or illegal methods to physically or mentally harm
the other person are employed. Another important aspect of hostile aggression is the
kind of explanation given by the athletes after the aggressive behaviour. Most of the
athletes don’t apologise for their behaviour, instead they tend to give self- justification
for their act of violent behaviour.

Prospect of Losing Makes Me Aggressive, says Viswanathan Anand

India Today | 21 June 2012
Speaking at a function for young chess players, the world chess champion Vishanathan
Anand said, “The insecurity of loosing made me aggressive. I don’t show it openly but
the prospect of losing to some player is so horrifying your might want an extra bit.”
“Against Topalov (in 2010 world championship) I was able to channel that feeling into
a willingness to play long games. I was able to feel motivated.”
“The hunger is still there to go for the next one,” says Anand. “I am often asked how I
maintain my motivation even after five world titles. Frankly, I never took to chess

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 because it was on some kind o f a checklist. I will keep playing till I enjoy it. The desire is
still there,” he said.
(https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/other-sports/story/viswanathan-anand-chess-
world-champion-niit-delhi-110525-2012-07-21)
2. Instrumental Aggression: The term ‘instrumental’ refers to ‘serve as a means’ ie.,
aggression is being used just as an instrument to gain advantage or win and not
because of anger or enmity. Therefore, instrumental aggression refers to aggressive
behaviour meant or used to attain some non-aggressive goals like winning, getting
money, prestige or gaining any other advantage. Instrumental aggression is harmful
behaviour engaged in without provocation to obtain an outcome or coerce others.
An instrumental aggression does consist of an aggressive intent to harm an opponent
physically or psychologically without necessarily being angry. Instrumental aggression
is a behaviour directed at the target as a means to an end. For example, elbowing and
injuring a player to gain a competitive advantage, or late tackling to stop an opponent
from scoring a goal. Another example of instrumental aggression is that of a
basketballer playing a foul against an opponent with the purpose of scoring a basket.
Instrumental aggression that has no goal to harm is also considered as an aggressive
act because of the aggressive intent. Most of the players prefer to offer apologise for
their act or behaviour of instrumental aggression.

Development of Relational Aggression

A science brief published in Psychological Science Agenda in August 2013 by APA deals with
development of relational aggression associated with young children due to media
exposure. The research work after examining different types of aggressive behaviour
discussed the two types of aggression. Along with physical aggression like kicking, pushing,
it mentions about second type of aggression known as Relational Aggression. According to
the study, relational aggressive behaviour has an intent to hurt, harm and injure others
using the relationship. It also uses threat of relationship against other individuals through
social exclusion, friendship withdrawal, spreading rumours, false news etc. are used as
goals for the intent of harming.
https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2013/07-08/relational-aggression

An important distinction between hostile and instrumental aggression is that instrumental

aggression is learned behaviour, where hostile aggression is impulsive. In the majority of
situations, neither is an ideal response or solution to your problem.
From the above concept of aggression, we reach a consensus that from the perspective of a
sports psychologist, there is no ‘good’ aggression or ‘bad’ aggression. Any behaviour with an
intent to physically or mentally harm another individual is aggression and is not acceptable

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on the sports field. An important concept mentioned by the sports psychologists is assertive
behaviour. Most athletic events involve interaction between people. There is some
interchange of words, feelings and behaviours. While confrontation is often manifest
through assertion and aggression, these two approaches have distinguishing factors and
lead to very different outcomes. Assertive behaviour is generally seen as a positive form of
expression, whereas aggression is a negative form of expression. Assertive behaviour has its
roots in respect for the other individual, while aggression does not; for example, if you voice
your opinion through aggressive acts, you are conveying that your feelings are more
important. Aggression also is often counter-productive, while assertive behaviour leads to a
more positive resolution. Finally, assertive behaviour is all about standing up for yourself
and your values in an unthreatening manner, while aggression puts others down.
Hostile Instrumental Assertive
Intent Harm or Suffering Harm or Suffering No harm
Primary Goal Harm or injure Win or advantage Win or Advantage
Process Non-Legitimate Non-Legitimate Legitimate
Emotion Anger No Anger Unusual effort and energy
expenditure
Explanation Self-justification instead Offer apologies
of apology

Aggression Management : A Challenge in Sports

Behaviour of aggression by players is an area of concern for coaches, parents across the
society which need to be minimized if not stopped or curtailed completely. Few of the
strategies which could be effective in managing aggression among athletes have been
mentioned below:
1. Social acceptable discharge medium: Aggression is an inborn drive, according to the
drive theory people have the innate instinct to be aggressive and it builds up till it is
discharged (catharsis). There need to be opportunities and space for people to displace
or express aggression through a socially acceptable means, for example bout of
aerobics, swimming, martial arts kicking pads or punching bags.
2. Positive Reinforcement: Aggression has a circular effect, one act lead to another
because the people especially athletes learn the way to release it. The circle need to be
broken by positive reinforcement and not letting it continue. Providing space for
players to speak and express their opinion is an effective example.
3. Negative Reinforcement: During competitions, any act of violence should not be

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 tolerated or exempted and must have strict rules of punishment for offending players
and the team, whereas fair play point can be awarded for players and teams showing
restrains during aggressive situations.
4. Modelling: People emulate their heros and seniors, young players grow up watching
them receive awards, prizes and recognitions, therefore try to copy their behaviour to a
large extent. Hence aggressive behaviour should not be promoted or appreciated at the
top level and by the seniors as it will help in reducing the trickle effect.
5. Training and role playing: Athletes can learn to control their hostile feeling along with
anger through role play and training with experts. Training is effective in regulating the
emotion of anger that leads to hostile behaviour.
6. External Cues: Stimulus which puts preference of winning over participation can lead to
various hostile as well as instrumental aggression. Coaches, parents must focus and
promote participation over performance, appreciate fare play than winning, discuss fun
over results.

I. Tick the correct answers

1. Which of the following is a legitimate behaviour?
(a) Hostile Aggression
(b) Instrumental Aggression
(c) Assertiveness
(d) Proactive Aggression
2. In instrumental aggression, the main aim is to using aggression.
(a) cause harm to the opponent
(b) achieve a positive goal
(c) express your feeling of jealousy
(d) show your hostility to an opponent
3. Aggression is displayed in sports through …………….
(a) assertion of views
(b) use of abusive words
(c) walking away from the opponent
(d) strictly following the rules
II. Answer the following questions briefly.
1. What do you understand by aggression in sports?

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2. Define hostile aggression.
3. Define instrumental aggression.
III. Answer the following questions in 150-200 words.
1. Differentiate between Hostile aggression, Instrumental aggression and Assertiveness?
2. Describe various reaction of athletes which can be classified as aggression and
assertive behaviours?

Art Integration
Look at the following caricatures. What do they depict?

Working in groups, design a caricature about a sportsperson from India who has displayed
either
AGGRESSION or ASSERTIVE BEHAVIOUR on the field.
How to make a caricature.
There are three essential elements that transcend style and medium and must be present in
a caricature:
Likeness - If you can’t tell who it is supposed to be, then it is not successful. All good
caricatures incorporate a good likeness of their subjects.
Exaggeration - Without some form of exaggeration, or a departure from the exact
representation of the subject’s features, all you have is a portrait. The level of exaggeration
can vary wildly, but there must be some departure. A straight portrait is not a caricature.
Statement - I believe a caricature must editorialize in some way. The artist must be trying to
say something about the subject. It might be something to do with the situation the subject
is drawn in, it may just be a play on their personality through expression or body language, it
might be a simple as making visual fun of some aspect of their persona or image.
Exaggeration itself can accomplish this in some cases. The best caricatures say something
more about the subject than that they have a big nose.

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 Case Study
Read the following Case Study carefully.
A state sports team was winning all the tournaments and was highly praised for its efforts.
An interview with the team to find and explore the reasons for its continuous success
highlighted the following reasons. As per the report, the team had many new players who
were wellorganised, responsible, self-disciplined and precise in their task and contributed to
the success of the team. The Captain had been selected by the team members themselves,
and he was most interactive, sociable and optimistic on the field as well as off it. This made
him a good leader.

The best part of the team was that, all its senior players were helpful and cooperative with
their juniors and were always willing to listen to them. The team’s coach mentioned few
essential elements that had contributed to the team’s success. According to him, the ability
to motivate people plays a crucial role in the team’s success more often than the technical
skills, and this is what separates a good coach from an average one. The coach also referred
to occasions when players went through the phase of lack of intrinsic motivation. The coach
realised that while there are some athletes have an innate drive to constantly strive for
success and enjoy their task, there are others who seem to lack internal motivation and need
extrinsic factors like rewards, prize, money etc. to create the required drive or required
behaviour. The team’s psychologist spoke about the aggressive behaviour among the team
players against the opponents. It was interesting to listen to various instances where the
players had instigated opponents or charged at them violently, in anger, but had later tried
to justify their actions.
Sometimes, players were found to be abusing opponents not in anger, but to get an
advantage or for the sake of winning, though this behaviour is not acceptable and they were
awarded punishments as per the code of conduct and rules of sport.
Read the above story of a sports team and answer the following questions?
1. Which trait best reflected the personality of junior players?
(a) Introvert
(b) Conscientiousness
(c) Neuroticism
2. Which member of the team reflected most of the Extrovert traits?
(a) Coach
(b) New Members
(c) Captain
3. Which type of players were recommended for special training with Sports Psychologist?
(a) Extrovert
(b) Introvert

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 (c) Mesomorph
4. The team sports psychologist is referring to which type of behaviour as non-threatening
but confident.
(a) Assertive
(b) Hostile
(c) Instrumental
5. Which are the two types of motivation discussed in the above story? Which, according to
you, is the better form? Why?

Answers to Personality Quiz

1. Extraversion (Q1, Q6R); Agreeableness (Q2R, Q7; Conscientiousness (Q3, Q8R);
Emotional Stability (Q4R, Q9); Openness to Experiences (Q5, Q10R).
2. ‘R’ denote reverse-scored item, recode the reverse-scored items (i.e., recode a 7 with
a 1, a 6 with a 2, a 5 with a 3, etc.). The reverse scored items are 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10.
3. Take the AVERAGE of the two items (the standard item and the recoded reverse-
scored item) that make up each scale.
4. The maximal score can be 14 and minimum score 1.
Example using the Agreeableness scale: A participant has scores of 5 on item 1
(Extraverted, enthusiastic) and and 2 on item 6 (Reserved, quiet). Start with recoding
the reverse-score items (ie. Item 2 score was 5) replacing the 5 with 3. Second, take
the average of the score for item 7 (eg.6) and the recoded score for item 2. So
the Agreeableness score would be: (6 + 3)/2 = 4.5.

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References
1
 Sivarajan. K “Psychological Foundations of Education” Calicut University, Kerala,
India, 2006.
2
 Sivarajan. K “Psychological Foundations of Education” Calicut University, Kerala, India,
2006.
3
 Baron. R.A “Psychology” Pearson Education South Asia, New Delhi, 2008.
4
 Sivarajan. K “Psychological Foundations of Education” Calicut University, Kerala, India,
2006.
5
 Sivarajan. K “Psychological Foundations of Education” Calicut University, Kerala, India,
2006.
6
 Baron. R.A “Psychology” Pearson Education South Asia, New Delhi, 2008.
7
 Baron. R.A “Psychology” Pearson Education South Asia, New Delhi, 2008.
8
 Bandura, (1973). Aggression A Social Learning Analysis. Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall.
9
 Baron, R. A. (1994). Perspectives in social psychology. Plenum Press.
10
 Baron, R. A., & Byrne, D. R. (2000). Social Psychology. Pearson.

Suggested Reading

 Baron. R.A “Psychology” Pearson Education South Asia, New Delhi, 2008.
 Cox. R.H “Sport Psychology: Concepts and Applications” Mc Graw Hill, New York, USA,
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 Jarvis. M “Sport Psychology” Routledge, New York, USA, 2006.
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