Personality profiling refers to assessing a person’s personality and behavior in a certain situation. It gives a view of the appropriate behavior and comes subconsciously to a majority of people. It is the behavior they are comfortable with and are able to sustain for a long period. In sports, the term personality profiling refers to the general assessment of the personality of a performer. Personality is the totality of a person’s characteristics, which make them unique. Personality profiling is useful because it assists in assessing an individual better, which in turn helps in formulating intervention strategies.
Sports profiling enables the players and coaches to develop self-awareness, develop emotional intelligence, and gain understanding on how their personality and behavior impacts on their performance and the final results. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand the role an individual’s behavior and personality play in their performance, and the ability to analyze and change behavior so as to improve performance. It can also be known as mental talent. It helps sportsmen and women to realize their full potential, which can only be facilitated by sports profiling. Sports profiling is necessary for a sportsman or woman who wishes to improve their performance.
Importance of Profiling in Sports
Currently, there is a lot of research regarding the relationship between sporting behavior and personality. Most of the people who participate in sporting activities tend to show traits of extroversion. They also tend to be less anxious and more independent than those people who do not take part in active sports. However, there is no specific personality profile that is unique to athletes only.
Personality profiling can help psychologists in directing people on which sport best suits them, or in encouraging their participation in a particular sport. This would in turn lead them to a healthier, more balanced lifestyle as they become more active. People who participate in sports also tend to be less anxious and less stresses. It improves both the physical and mental health. It also increases self-esteem.
Personality profiling also helps the coach to know his team better. This understanding helps him in motivation each team member at the individual level. Profiling helps in turning an average performance into an excellent performance. Personality profiling helps the coach in determining the way forward for the team.
Personality profiling gives individuals information about themselves that they may not have been aware. It brings self- awareness, and this enables the individual control their behavior, which puts them in a position of control over their results. Human behavior is not deterministic, bur probabilistic. Profiling makes it possible to determine how a person will react under some circumstances. Consequently, this facilitates understanding some of the potential capabilities and weaknesses, which can be used in improving their strengths and eliminating their weaknesses. It also helps the athlete to know which behavior can be maximized to yield productive results. As a result, this can be used in strengthening the team and improving performance.
The Importance of Profiling for Coaches
According to Bo Hanson, exceptional coaching is dependent on information that enables the coach to tailor his or her coaching style for each individual athlete and for the benefit of the whole team. The coach should come up with a style that will satisfy all the team members. A skilled coach should work on his communication skills and should constantly work on improving themselves. They should be innovative in coming up with strategies for the athletes.
One trait that makes phenomenal coaches is self- awareness done through personality profiling. The coach learns about his or her coaching and communication style, as well as strengths and weaknesses. The coach also becomes aware of the individual athlete’s personalities, motivating factors and their most effective environment for training. The knowledge gained is also beneficial in improving time management, as the coach is aware of the specific areas that need specialized attention. This helps in improving relationships within the team and improves performance. Personality profiling also helps the coach understand the effect they have on the other players, and this enables them to manage conflicts.
Team managers also benefit from personality profiling as they get to know the athletes better and are able to invest in them wisely. It also enables them to understand and relate with the rest of the staff by improving communication, for the general good of the team.
Personalities who Have Benefited from Personality Profiling
Bo Hanson is an elite rower from Australia who competed in Olympic Games and won three bronze medals. He is also the founder of Athlete Assessments. Towards the last stages of his athletic career, Bo was constantly looking for ways through which he could comprehend his behavior in relation to his competitions, training and results. He conducted several personality profiling tests on himself, and this enabled him to learn about his strong and weak points, and the best means of using this to his advantage. It also made him understand his crew and was able to build more fulfilling and productive relationships with them. As a consequence of his understanding of behavioral profiling, he found his later years of his career to be more fulfilling and enjoyable than the former. By the time he was retiring from competition in 2004, he had become an expert in personality profiling. He now makes instruments for personality profiling.
Limits in Personality profiling
One limitation in personality profiling is that it has not effectively proved the existence of a link between sporting performance and personality types. There is no clear indication that shows that certain personality types excel more in certain sports than others. It also does not accurately show who is more likely to participate in a sport. It can, however, help psychologists in recommending that a person participates in a certain sport. There is also no evidence of the existence of the ideal sports personality. The best player in the team may not necessarily have the most pleasant personality type. The person with the most stable personality may also not be the best person to hold the team together.
Profiling results may also not be objective. There is the possibility of the results being influenced by a person’s personal opinions which may not necessarily be scientific. This leads to inaccuracy, which renders the results invalid. The person may also unconsciously alter his or her behavior in order to match up to the expected or ascribed profile. It also brings about the danger of stereotyping.
The Future of Personality Profiling in Sports
Personality training is a realistic approach for athletes who wish to improve their performance. As psychology becomes incorporated in every sphere of life, more people, including sports personalities look at it for help in many issues pertaining to their lives and careers. As more sportsmen and women open their minds to new ideas, more people will adopt personality profiling. The benefits are substantial, and the results are better working conditions and relationships and better performance. Personality profiling will not only make them better sportsmen and women, but will also help them improve themselves holistically. They will perform better in most of the activities they undertake, apart from excelling in their sporting careers. This will also lead to better relationships not only at work, but also it home and in other social interactions outside of work.
Works Cited
McAdams, Dan P. The person: A New Introduction to Personality Psychology. 5th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009. Print.
Mischel, Walter. Introduction to Personality. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace College Publishers , 1999. Print.
