Personality in sport and exercise psychology: Integrating a whole person perspective

This paper draws on contemporary views in personality psychology as a means for understanding people participating in sport and physical activity. Specifically, we focus on McAdams’ integrative framework [McAdams (2013). The psychological self as actor, agent, and author. Perspectives on Psychologic...

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Main Authors: Coulter, T., Mallett, C., Singer, J., Gucciardi, Daniel
Format: Journal Article
Published: Taylor and Francis Inc. 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23815
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author Coulter, T.
Mallett, C.
Singer, J.
Gucciardi, Daniel
author_facet Coulter, T.
Mallett, C.
Singer, J.
Gucciardi, Daniel
author_sort Coulter, T.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper draws on contemporary views in personality psychology as a means for understanding people participating in sport and physical activity. Specifically, we focus on McAdams’ integrative framework [McAdams (2013). The psychological self as actor, agent, and author. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8, 272–295; McAdams & Pals (2006). A new big five: Fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality. American Psychologist, 61, 204–217] and suggest this framework as potentially generative in the field of sport and exercise psychology. McAdams indicates that people can be defined through three layers of understanding, incorporating (a) dispositional traits, (b) characteristic adaptations, and (c) narrative identities. Together these layers provide a vision of the whole person – a perspective of personality rarely adopted by the sport and exercise community. The aim of this paper is to introduce scholars and practitioners to the potential benefits of embracing this whole person outlook, and to discuss the opportunities and challenges McAdams’ framework may have for advancing scholarship in sport and exercise psychology.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-238152017-09-13T13:59:40Z Personality in sport and exercise psychology: Integrating a whole person perspective Coulter, T. Mallett, C. Singer, J. Gucciardi, Daniel This paper draws on contemporary views in personality psychology as a means for understanding people participating in sport and physical activity. Specifically, we focus on McAdams’ integrative framework [McAdams (2013). The psychological self as actor, agent, and author. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8, 272–295; McAdams & Pals (2006). A new big five: Fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality. American Psychologist, 61, 204–217] and suggest this framework as potentially generative in the field of sport and exercise psychology. McAdams indicates that people can be defined through three layers of understanding, incorporating (a) dispositional traits, (b) characteristic adaptations, and (c) narrative identities. Together these layers provide a vision of the whole person – a perspective of personality rarely adopted by the sport and exercise community. The aim of this paper is to introduce scholars and practitioners to the potential benefits of embracing this whole person outlook, and to discuss the opportunities and challenges McAdams’ framework may have for advancing scholarship in sport and exercise psychology. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23815 10.1080/1612197X.2015.1016085 Taylor and Francis Inc. restricted
spellingShingle Coulter, T.
Mallett, C.
Singer, J.
Gucciardi, Daniel
Personality in sport and exercise psychology: Integrating a whole person perspective
title Personality in sport and exercise psychology: Integrating a whole person perspective
title_full Personality in sport and exercise psychology: Integrating a whole person perspective
title_fullStr Personality in sport and exercise psychology: Integrating a whole person perspective
title_full_unstemmed Personality in sport and exercise psychology: Integrating a whole person perspective
title_short Personality in sport and exercise psychology: Integrating a whole person perspective
title_sort personality in sport and exercise psychology: integrating a whole person perspective
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23815