Mediational role of coping with stress in relationship between personality and effectiveness of performance of soccer players

Abstract

There is a trend in soccer to ensure comprehensive player preparation including fitness, technical and tactical, as well as mental aspects. It has been emphasized many times that personality traits (neuroticism, conscientiousness, extraversion) are significant for the effectiveness of performance in soccer. The question of why these relations occur has been considered relatively rarely. Therefore, the aim of this study is an attempt to explain these relations through introduction of ways of coping with stress as their significant mediators. It is hence assumed that players with certain personality traits are characterized by specific ways of coping with stress which are related to the effectiveness of their performance. The study group consisted of 122 players, aged 16–19 years. The participants of the study were youth teams at the championship level (medalists of the youth Polish Championships), and the following research tools were used: NEO-FFI Personality Inventory, The Coping Inventory for Competitive Sport (CICS) and Szwarc’s Observation Sheet for effectiveness in soccer. It was demonstrated that task-focused ways of coping with stress (effort expenditure, thought control, and logical analysis) were the most frequent mediators of relations between the studied traits and the effectiveness of performance of soccer players.

The influence of the five-factor model of personality on performance in competitive sports: a review

“…These individuals relish camaraderie, support, and competition while striving toward shared objectives. This notion is substantiated by the mediating effect of extraversion on performance effectiveness in relation to the task-centered approach to stress among football players (Kalinowski et al, 2020). Interestingly, a survey of individual event champions also revealed markedly high extraversion traits (Piepiora, 2021b).…”

“…Strong willpower and anti-pressure ability are associated with better performance in Taichiquan and Changquan events, respectively. Additionally, personality traits have the greatest impact on performance in Nanquan events, followed by Changquan events, and then Taichiquan events Kalinowski et al (2020) Lower neuroticism levels correlated with increased effectiveness through effort expenditure as a mediator. Higher conscientiousness levels led to greater performance effectiveness due to task-focused stress-coping strategies.…”

“…A strong correlation exists between conscientiousness and team events. In assessments of football and basketball performance, conscientiousness demonstrates a positive association with sports achievements (Kalinowski et al, 2020;Siemon and Wessels, 2022). In team sports, individual performance substantially influences competition outcomes, indicating that traits such as self-control, diligence, responsibility, and reliability contribute to enhanced performance.…”

“…Neuroticism has been identified as crucial for comprehending athletes' emotional and physiological states before competition due to its association with anxiety, arousal, and self-confidence (Balyan et al, 2016). Furthermore, personality attributes have been linked to performance outcomes in diverse sports, rowing being one of them (Stine et al, 2019), Chang Quan, Nan Quan, Taijiquan (Yuan, 2020), and young male soccer players (Kalinowski et al, 2020). In eSports, notable variances in traits like extraversion, agreeableness, and openness were detected between players at lower ranks and those at the higher tiers of the Legendary League (LoL) (Matuszewski et al, 2020).…”

Application of Stress Coping Ability as a Conduit between Goal Orientation and Play Effectiveness among Polish Soccer Players

“…In a previous study, it was discovered that stress management is partially regulated by the relationships between soccer players’ personalities and on-field performance [ 15 , 18 ]. This has shifted our focus to the search for additional psychological factors that act as motivators.…”