2018, Volume 14, Issue 1
Relationships between personality traits and resilience levels of jiu-jitsu and kickboxing Brazilian athletes
Dirceu Gama1, Heric Barreto1, Juliana Castro2, Rodolfo Nunes2, Rodrigo Vale1
1Postgraduate Program in Exercise and Sport Sciences, Institute of Physical Education and Sports, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2Postgraduate Program in Exercise and Sport Sciences, Institute of Physical Education and Sports, Rio de Janeiro State University, RJ, Brazil
Author for correspondence: Juliana Castro; Postgraduate Program in Exercise and Sport Sciences, Institute of Physical Education and Sports, Rio de Janeiro State University, RJ, Brazil; email: julianabrandaoflp@hotmail.com
Full text
Abstract
Background & Study Aim: Resilience consists in the ability to cope with stressful events due to positive mental adaptations. Social and personal factors determine it, such as friendships, cultural experiences, temperament and personality traits. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was the relationship between a personality trait and resilience levels in a sample of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and kickboxing athletes.
Material & Methods: The sample was composed of 15 jiu-jitsu athletes and 15 kickboxing athletes. The data collection instruments were the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and a sociodemographic questionnaire. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire measures the personality traits of Extraversion/Introversion (E), Neuroticism/Stability (N), Psychoticism/Socialisation (P), and includes a lie scale (L). The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale assesses the subjects’ perception of their ability to adapt to changes, overcoming obstacles, and keep going after illness, injury or other difficulties. The collected data were analyzed according to the guidelines of descriptive and correlational statistics.
Results: There was a moderate negative correlation between resilience and psychoticism (r = ‒0.56). The lie scale exhibited moderate negative correlation with psychoticism (r = ‒0.51). There were statistically significant differences between the ages (p = 0.036) and the resilience levels (p = 0.031) of university education athletes compared to those who only attended high school.
Conclusions: Resilience levels were negatively influenced by psychoticism and positively influenced by the athletes’ schooling level. Future studies that consider issues of gender, income, social status and subjective perception of stress are important in determining how these variables relate to resilience levels. Conducting longitudinal researches is necessary to scale the variability of resilience levels over time.
Key words: temperament, psychological quality, martial arts, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, education, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale
