gms | German Medical Science

Objective: It has been well documented that sport activity has positive effect on the mental development in children. Sport has a beneficial effect on the process of children integration into society and the development of valuable attitudes minimizing pathological behavior. Number of studies have shown that children who regularly perform sport activities are emotionally more stable, more confident and more extroverted (outgoing) compared to the less active children. The aim of this study was to examine the personality traits of children and adolescences who achieved the highest results in karate (N=15) and compare them to the counterparts who were equally active but attained less successful results (N=15).

Material/Methods: Eysenck Personality Questionnaire was used to measure personality to be definer of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Psychoticism factor and Tendency to give socially desirable answers.

Results: The major findings of this study suggest that there isn’t a significant difference in personality traits between the active children who achieved significant success in competitions compared to the comparably active children who have not been equally successful in the same competitions.

Conclusion: This study confirms that the performance of top athletes depends on some other psychological constructs rather than only on personality traits.