Academic Scientific JournalsImpact of personality traits and motivation on adolescent sports participation
Keywords:
adolescence, intrinsic motivation, personality, physicalsporting activity, genderAbstract
Background:
Participation in physical-sporting activities is associated with positive physical, emotional, and social development during adolescence, a critical period characterized by significant biological, cognitive, and social changes. These developmental processes interact dynamically with individual differences in psychological traits and motivational factors, which strongly affect adolescents’ sustained engagement and overall health outcomes through sport.
Participants and procedure:
A sample of adolescents was assessed using validated questionnaires measuring intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, personality traits, and levels of physical activity. Statistical analyses were conducted to examine associations between these variables and to identify gender differences.
Results:
Intrinsic motivation was found to be strongly associated with sports engagement, showing a higher correlation than extrinsic motivation. Personality traits such as extraversion were positively associated with higher physical activity levels; gender differences emerged in neuroticism and conscientiousness, with females scoring higher in these traits. Adolescents exhibiting high intrinsic motivation showed lower neuroticism and greater openness to experience, outlining a characteristic psychosocial profile linked to sustained sports participation.
Conclusions:
These findings highlight the importance of integrating both motivation and personality considerations when developing interventions aimed at promoting active and healthy lifestyles in adolescence. Understanding these psychological factors can facilitate the creation of tailored strategies by educators, families, and sports professionals to enhance youth engagement and well-being.
Downloads
References
Ahmed, K. R., Horwood, S., Kolbe-Alexander, T., & Khan, A. (2023). Effects of a school-based physical activity intervention on adolescents’ mental health: a cluster randomized controlled trial. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 20, 1102–1108. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2023-0062
Alimentum (2011). I sondeo de opinión sobre alimentación y actividad física [First opinion poll on nutrition and physical activity]. Fundación Alimentum.
Balaguer, I., Castillo, I., & Duda, J. L. (2007). Propiedades psicométricas de la Escala de Motivación Deportiva en deportistas españoles [Psychometric properties of the Sports Motivation Scale in Spanish athletes]. Revista Mexicana de Psicología, 24, 197–207.
Barlow, D. H. (2002). Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic. Guilford Press.
Biddle, S. J., García Bengoechea, E., & Wiesner, G. (2017). Sedentary behaviour and adiposity in youth: a systematic review of reviews and analysis of causality. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0497-8
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.
Bull, F. C., Al-Ansari, S. S., Biddle, S., Borodulin, K., Buman, M. P., Cardon, G., Carty, C., Chaput, J. P., Chastin, S., Chou, R., Dempsey, P. C., DiPietro, L., Ekelund, U., Firth, J., Friedenreich, C. M., Garcia, L., Gichu, M., Jago, R., Katzmarzyk, P. T., Lambert, E., … Willumsen, J. F. (2020). World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 54, 1451–1462. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102955
Cattell, R. B. (1986). The 16PF personality structure and Dr. Eysenck. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 1, 153–160.
Coleman, J. S. (1961). The adolescent society: The social life of the teenager and its impact on education. Free Press of Glencoe.
Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Four ways five factors are basic. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 653–665. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(92)90236-I
Crocetti, E. (2017). Identity formation in adolescence: The dynamic of forming and consolidating identity commitments. Child Development Perspectives, 11, 145–150. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12226
de Almeida, A. A., & Noll, M. (2024). Physical activity and lifestyle behaviors in children and adolescents. Children, 11, 1403. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11111403
Deng, A., Zarrett, N., Moon, J., & Sweeney, A. M. (2023). Changing trajectory of daily physical activity levels among at-risk adolescents: Influences of motivational mechanisms. BMC Public Health, 23, 2089. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16949-1
Díaz-Rodríguez, C., & Pérez-Córdoba, E. (2024). Influence of problem-solving ability and personality variables on the improvement and creativity of tactical decisions in basketball. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1450084. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1450084
Eime, R. M., Young, J. A., Harvey, J. T., Charity, M. J., & Payne, W. R. (2013). A systematic review of the psychological and social benefits of participation in sport for children and adolescents: Informing development of a conceptual model of health through sport. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 10, 98. https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-10-98
Espinoza, L. K. B., Calle, M. A. L., Rodríguez, P. E. R., & Faican, R. G. E. (2022). Desarrollo psicológico del adolescente: una revisión sistemática [Psychological development of the adolescent: a systematic review]. Pro Sciences, 6, 389–398. https://doi.org/10.29018/issn.2588-1000vol6iss42.2022pp389-398
Eysenck, H. J. (1964). Manual of the Eysenck Personality Inventory. University of London Press.
Filipiak, S., & Łubianka, B. (2020). Locus of control in situations of successes and failures and personality traits in young athletes practicing team sports. Health Psychology Report, 8, 47–58. https://doi.org/10.5114/hpr.2019.90917
Gallant, F., Giroux, M. A., Gunnell, K., Registe, P. P. W., Mekari, S., Doré, I., Sabiston, C. M., & Bélanger, M. (2024). Basic psychological need satisfaction as correlates of physical activity trajectories during adolescence. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 34, e14743. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.14743
García-Naveira, A., & Ruiz-Barquín, R. (2013). La personalidad del deportista: una revisión teórica desde la perspectiva de rasgos [The personality of the athlete: a theoretical review from the perspective of traits]. Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de la Actividad Física y el Deporte, 13, 627–645.
Giacobbi, P. R., Hausenblas, H. A., & Frye, N. (2005). A naturalistic assessment of the relationship between personality, daily life events, leisure-time exercise, and mood. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 6, 67–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2003.10.009
Gnambs, T., & Hanfstingl, B. (2016). The decline of academic motivation during adolescence: an accelerated longitudinal cohort analysis on the effect of psychological need satisfaction. Educational Psychology, 36, 1691–1705. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2015.1113236
Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative description of personality: The Big-Five factor structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1216–1229. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.59.6.1216
Goldberg, L. R. (1992). The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 4, 26–42. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.26
Hall, G. S. (1904). Adolescence: Its psychology and its relations to physiology, anthropology, sociology, sex, crime, religion and education. D. Appleton and Company.
Hammond, M. M., Neff, N. L., Farr, J. L., Schwall, A. R., & Zhao, X. (2011). Predictors of individual-level innovation at work: a meta-analysis. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 5, 90–105. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018556
He, H., Pan, B., Chen, W., Wang, H., & Yang, T. (2025). How psychological resilience shapes adolescents’ sports participation: The mediating role of exercise motivation. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1546754. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1546754
Hope, N., Holding, A. C., Verner-Filion, J., Sheldon, K. M., & Koestner, R. (2019). The path from intrinsic aspirations to subjective well-being is mediated by changes in basic psychological need satisfaction and autonomous motivation: a large prospective test. Motivation and Emotion, 43, 232–241. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11031-018-9733-Z
Lau, F. (2017). Methods for correlational studies. In F. Lau & C. Kuziemsky (Eds.), Handbook of eHealth evaluation: an evidence-based approach (pp. 213–226). University of Victoria.
Lerner, R. M. (2006). Developmental science, developmental systems, and contemporary theories of human development. In R. M. Lerner & W. Damon (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., pp. 1–17). John Wiley & Sons.
Lozano Díaz, A. (2018). Factores personales, familiares y académicos que afectan al fracaso escolar en la Educación Secundaria [Personal, family, and academic factors affecting low achievement in secondary school]. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 1, 43–66. https://doi.org/10.25115/EJREP.1.101
Marcia, J. E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 159–187). Wiley.
Matus, E., Molino, J., & García, G. L. M. (2020). El efecto de un programa de intervención psicológica en la motivación deportiva de los jugadores de fútbol [The effect of a psychological intervention program on the sports motivation of soccer players]. Revista Iberoamericana de Psicología del Ejercicio y el Deporte, 15, 67–73.
Maxwell, S. E., & Cole, D. A. (2007). Bias in crosssectional analyses of longitudinal mediation. Psychological Methods, 12, 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.12.1.23
Mercader Rubio, I., Oropesa Ruiz, N. F., Gutiérrez Ángel, N., & Fernández Martínez, M. M. (2022). Motivational profile, future expectations, and attitudes toward study of secondary school students in Spain: Results of the PISA report 2018. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 3864. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073864
Mesurado, M. B. (2008). Explicaciones psicológicas sobre la motivación y el sustrato neurobiológico que posibilita la misma [Psychological explanations of motivation and the neurobiological substrate that enables it]. Psicología y Psicopedagogía, 19, 1–14.
Moreno-Rodríguez, V. P., Sánchez-Cabrero, R., Abad-Mancheño, A., Juanes-García, A., & Martínez-López, F. (2021). Food and nutrition myths among future secondary school teachers: a problem of trust in inadequate sources of information. Social Sciences, 10, 325. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10090325
Murcia, J. A. M., Gimeno, E. C., & Coll, D. G. C. (2007). Analizando la motivación en el deporte: un estudio a través de la teoría de la autodeterminación [Analysing motivation in sport: a study based on self-determination theory]. Apuntes de Psicología, 25, 35–51. https://doi.org/10.55414/4fz3fp19
Nicholls, J. G. (1989). The competitive ethos and democratic education. Harvard University Press.
NHS (2024). Physical activity guidelines for children and young people. Retrieved from https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/physical-activity-guidelines-children-and-young-people/
Niehues, M., Wille-Rex, M., & Sallen, J. (2025). Identity and motivation of adolescent student-athletes in school and elite sport: an investigation of the relationship within-and cross-domains. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 7, 1625068. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2025.1625068
Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Wynn, S. R. (2010). The effectiveness and relative importance of choice in the classroom. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 896–915. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019545
Patton, G. C., Sawyer, S. M., Santelli, J. S., Ross, D. A., Afifi, R., Allen, N. B., Arora, M., Azzopardi, P., Baldwin, W., Bonell, C., Kakuma, R., Kennedy, E., Mahon, J., McGovern, T., Mokdad, A. H., Patel, V., Petroni, S., Reavley, N., Taiwo, K., Waldfogel, J., … Viner, R. M. (2016). Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing. Lancet, 387, 2423–2478. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00579-1
Pelletier, L. G., Tuson, K. M., Fortier, M. S., Vallerand, R. J., Briere, N. M., & Blais, M. R. (1995). Toward a new measure of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation in sports: The Sport Motivation Scale (SMS). Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 17, 35–53.
Pelletier, L. G., Rocchi, M. A., Vallerand, R. J., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2013). Validation of the revised Sport Motivation Scale (SMS-II). Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14, 329–341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.12.002
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54–67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Publications.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101860
San Martín González, P., Moral García, J. E., Amatria Jiménez, M., & Arroyo del Bosque, R. (2025). Promotion of healthy habits in adolescents: an interdisciplinary study on motivation towards physical education, Mediterranean diet and physical activity. Behavioral Sciences, 15, 778. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15060778
Sañudo, B., Sánchez-Oliver, A. J., Fernández-Gavira, J., Gaser, D., Stöcker, N., Peralta, M., Marques, A., Papakonstantinou, S., Nicolini, C., & Sitzberger, C. (2024). Physical and psychosocial benefits of sports participation among children and adolescents with chronic diseases: a systematic review. Sports Medicine – Open, 10, 54. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-024-00722-8
Sawyer, S. M., Azzopardi, P. S., Wickremarathne, D., & Patton, G. C. (2018). The age of adolescence. The Lancet: Child & Adolescent Health, 2, 223–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(18)30022-1
Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Houghton Mifflin.
Shuai, Y., Wang, S., Liu, X., Kueh, Y. C., & Kuan, G. (2023). The influence of the five-factor model of personality on performance in competitive sports: a review. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1284378. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1284378
Spielberger, C. D. (2010). State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. In I. B. Weiner & W. E. Craighead (Eds.), The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology (Vol. 4, pp. 1698–1699). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470479216.corpsy0943
Stavrou, N. A. M., Psychountaki, M., Georgiadis, E., Karteroliotis, K., & Zervas, Y. (2015). Flow theory – goal orientation theory: Positive experience is related to athlete’s goal orientation. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1499. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01499
Steinberg, L. (2009). Should the science of adolescent brain development inform public policy? American Psychologist, 64, 739–750. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.64.8.739
Steinberg, L. (2010). A behavioral scientist looks at the science of adolescent brain development. Brain and Cognition, 72, 160–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2009.11.003
Steinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001). Adolescent development. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 83–110. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.83
Steinberg, L., Icenogle, G., Shulman, E. P., Breiner, K., Chein, J., Bacchini, D., Chang, L., Chaudhary, N., Giunta, L. D., Dodge, K. A., Fanti, K. A., Lansford, J. E., Malone, P. S., Oburu, P., Pastorelli, C., Skinner, A. T., Sorbring, E., Tapanya, S., Tirado, L. M. U., Alampay, L. P., … Takash, H. M. S. (2018). Around the world, adolescence is a time of heightened sensation seeking and immature self-regulation. Developmental Science, 21, e12532. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12532
Torreblanca Murillo, L. (2017). Desarrollo de un nuevo instrumento de evaluación: El Cuestionario Breve de Personalidad (CBP) [Development of a new assessment instrument: The Brief Personality Questionnaire]. Doctoral thesis, University of Malaga.
Triglia, A., Regader, B., & García-Allen, J. (2018). ¿Qué es la inteligencia? Del CI a las inteligencias múltiples [What is intelligence? From IQ to multiple intelligences]. EMSE EDAPP. United Nations (2023). The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023: Special Edition. Retrieved from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2023/
Usán, P., Salavera, C., & Teruel, P. (2019). School motivation, goal orientation and academic performance in secondary education students. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 12, 877–887. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S215641
World Health Organization (2024). Physical activity [Fact sheet]. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity
Wyszyńska, J., Ring-Dimitriou, S., Thivel, D., Weghuber, D., Hadjipanayis, A., Grossman, Z., Ross-Russell, R., Dereń, K., & Mazur, A. (2020). Physical activity in the prevention of childhood obesity: The position of the European Childhood Obesity Group and the European Academy of Pediatrics. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 8, 535705. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2020.535705
Wu, X. Y., Han, L. H., Zhang, J. H., Luo, S., Hu, J. W., Sun, K., & Lin, X. K. (2017). The influence of physical activity, sedentary behavior and diet on the health outcomes of children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One, 12, e0187668. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187668
Xu, R. (2023). The importance of family, peer, and romantic relationships on adolescent development. Journal of Student Research, 12, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v12i1.4155
