HIGH-SCHOOL-STUDENTS SPORTS PERSONALITIES - VARIATIONS ACROSS PARTICIPATION LEVEL, GENDER, TYPE OF SPORT, AND SUCCESS

Personality has become an increasingly important area in sport psychol ogy as attempts are made to understand, explain, and predict levels of spouting involvement and success. To further understand these relatio nships, 312 Grade 11 and 12 students completed a battery of personalit y and mood-state inventories consisting of the STAI, EPQ and POMS, and were then categorized by (i) participation in spout (ii) type of spor t played, and (iii) level of success experienced. A MANOVA indicated t hat spouts participants had significantly different personality profil es from non-participants - univariate tests showed the participants to be move extraverted and vigorous, and less anxious, neurotic, depress ed and confused. Gender differences noted for sports participants cont inued across type of sport and success level. Elite athletes were foun d to have a mood profile significantly different from nonelite athlete s, and almost congruent with Morgan's (1980) ''iceberg'' profile. Resu lts support the view that sports participation is associated with posi tive mental health.