THE IMPACT OF PERSONALITY ON PERFORMANCE IN SPORTS IN SOME HIGHER INSTITUTIONS IN THE BUEA MUNICIPALITY

Abstract

Although multiple studies have analyzed the impact of perfectionism on sport-related motivation and emotions, studies analyzing its role in actual sport performance are scarce. this study was to explore how personality influences performance in sports. Personality type is one of the key issues as concerns athletes’ performance during sporting competitions, but the problem the researcher noticed was that, athletes from different sporting disciplines such as, football, handball, basketball, judo, athletics, Paralympics and wrestling choose sports that do not match with their personality types. The researcher adopted theories such as the temperament theory, the trait, the interactional approach theory and the social learning theory Also this study was carried out in some higher institutions in the Buea Municipality. A sample population of 166 was chosen for the study and a proportionate as well as a purposive sampling technique was used.  The instrument used for data collection was the questionnaire. The findings reveal that ten different personality types of students were identified; the majority was extroverted while only two were introverted and six had a mixed personality type and most of the extroverted students - ESTJ rated their performances as good, very good or excellent. While the two introverted personality types – ISTJ and ISFJ rated their performance high. Based on the findings it was therefore recommended that, Sports authorities and coaches should devote time to select athletes when preparing for the University Games based on the students personality while taking into consideration the individual personality trait. Again, course syllabuses for coaches should be reviewed regularly so as to reflect current needs and demands of students taking part in sporting competitions.