Personality status of wrestlers of varying abilities as measured by a sport specific version of a personality inventory.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between personality and ability in wrestling. A wrestling-specific version of the Jackson Personality Inventory (JPI-W) was constructed and compared to the parent JPI. Wrestlers were categorized as qualifiers (N = 46) or nonqualifiers (N = 52) on the basis of an ability classification scheme which involved the previous year's performance at specified tournaments. These two groups were then examined for differences on eight JPI scales (anxiety, energy level, interpersonal affect, organization, risk taking, self esteem, social participation, and tolerance), eight corresponding JPI-W scales, wrestling age category (senior, junior, and juvenile), and wrestling experience. The results indicated that in comparison to nonqualifiers, qualifiers had significantly greater wrestling experience and higher self esteem as measured by the JPI-W.