Blogpost #3: An athletes' personality

 

When we are watching sports, specially when it is the crucial part of the finals. Some of us are wondering if how are they capable of handling the very tight situation. How can they be strong enough to accept certain challenges coming through their careers. Like in the NBA, Kobe Bryant's game winning three pointer is a perfect example. Kobe and the Lakers were down by 2 points against the Portland Trailblazers but he never hesitated in taking the game winning shot. What certain characteristics does an athlete have? Are they different from us ordinary people? We know that they are also like us, but what gives them the attitude of an athlete? According to the article entitled "The "Athletic Personality"-mere myth?" by Allen Guttmann in the site called "Britannica" that beyond the fact that athletes are physically more active than non athletes and the equally obvious fact that athletes drawn to individual sports score higher on "autonomy" and "independence" than athletes devoted to team sports. Two American psychologists David McClelland and John Atkinson examined the difference of the need for achievement and the fear of failure. Male athletes has a natural characteristics of being aggressive and being competitive, while female athletes are more becoming "masculine" because of having high scales in competitiveness and aggressiveness.

Allen Guttmann stated "Gender accounts for some of the observed differences. Although female athletes are increasingly similar psychologically to male athletes, they continue to respond more readily than men do to encouragement and to react more negatively than men do admonition."


                                     

Allen is right, women who are engaged in a challenging sports are more likely to be more masculine. The atmosphere of the game enhance the personality and the skill of the athlete depending on the situation. Men are only normal to experience this things since they are the one who could endure such emotional and physical challenges. Women who are already masculine enough to compete like men are the ones who is engaged tightly to the sport they have chosen. Some female athletes chose to be more masculine than the other female athletes in order to have an advantage in the game. Female athletes who are more masculine has a high chance to become a lesbian. I have read an article entitled "How mental attitudes shape performance" by Delice Coffey in a site called "sportspsychologytoday" that the personality of the athlete depends on their skill and what is happening in the game. Personality depends on the mental toughness of an athlete, and he/she is the one who will decide in which action will he/she take.

 Delice stated that "A player's mental attitude shapes his performance every bit as much as his physical condition and both should be kept in peak condition in order to achieve peak performance". Delice is right, not only the physical condition should just be trained, but also the mental state of a person in order to handle those heavy situations. Male or female, it does not matter which gender you belong, as long as you work hard and ready yourself to take the spotlight.