PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS AS PREDICTORS OF PERFORMANCE AND SURVIVAL IN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL

The role of physical and psychological skills as predictors of perform ance and survival in professional baseball was studied in a sample of 104 minor league baseball players. Psychological and physical skills w ere largely uncorrelated with one another and appear to be measuring s eparate and independent skill domains. Preseason scores on the Athleti c Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI-28) and coaches'/managers' ratings of the same skills on an ACSI Rating Form each accounted for as much perf ormance variance in batting average (approximately 20%) as did physica l skills when differences in the latter were statistically controlled, and the psychological measures accounted for substantially more varia nce in pitchers' earned run averages than did the expert ratings of ph ysical skills. The psychological skills; measures also predicted athle tes' survival in professional baseball 2 and 3 years after they were o btained. Bayesian hit rate anlayses indicated substantially increased survival predictability over simple base rate predictions.