Overview

Dive into the fascinating world of personality theories and their impact on sport and exercise performance, exploring everything from early psychodynamic theories to contemporary self-theories and the Big Five.

Examine a range of personality assessments and apply these theories to understand behaviours in sport and high-risk activities, focusing on traits like neuroticism, narcissism, and risk-taking.

Discover how personality influences athletic performance and health, unveiling the psychological underpinnings of elite athletes and adventurers.

Gain insights into complex personality dimensions and develop skills to assess and optimise performance in sport and exercise contexts.

Delivered by two sport and exercise psychologists who have worked with Olympic performers and coaches, stock exchange businesses, etc., this module will include a variety of “hands-on” exercises that will help us cover a broad array of theories of personality, including: Theories of personality such as psychodynamic theories and derivatives, and different methods of assessment and application, self theories (e.g., self determination, self discrepancy), the Big Five, the Giant Three; specific personality traits (e.g., neuroticism, narcissism, perfectionism, optimism) in relation to performance; body-centre personality theories and their relation to performance and health; "high-risk" sports, including affect/emotion regulation and individual differences in sensation seeking and risk-taking

Assessment Strategy

Excellent (Grade A): will reflect a concise, precise, critical, and accurate synthesis of the main theories and research findings in relation to the question. This synthesis will incorporate all or most of the relevant theoretical explanations and empirical findings that we covered in the module and beyond (via extra reading) and will reflect an accurate and critical appraisal of that literature with sound reference to primary sources. The writing/oral style will be precise, clear, concise, and logically structured with very few errors.

Good (Grade B): will reflect an accurate synthesis of the main theories and research findings in relation to the question. This synthesis will incorporate most of the relevant theoretical explanations and empirical findings that we covered in the module and will reflect a reasonably accurate appraisal of that literature with reference to primary sources. The writing/oral style will be reasonably precise, clear, concise, and logically structured with few errors.

Pass (Grade C): will reflect a synthesis of the main theories and research findings in relation to the question. This synthesis will incorporate the most relevant theoretical explanations and empirical findings that we covered in the module with reference to primary sources. The writing/oral style will be precise for the most part with few errors.

Learning Outcomes

• Analyse and synthesize the interplay between personality, individual differences, and their impacts on behaviour and performance, utilizing a critical perspective.

• Critically assess the significance and implications of research findings in the field of personality and individual differences.

• Critically evaluate diverse theoretical frameworks related to personality, articulating their comparative strengths and limitations.

• Examine and critique various theoretical models of sensation seeking and risk-taking, demonstrating an understanding of their theoretical underpinnings and practical applications.