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Personality traits and athletic young adults

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Abstract

Purpose

Doing regular physical activity offers many positive physiological and psychological advantages. According to the literature there exist some correlations between personality traits and physical activity, which are related to gender diversity. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits, self-efficacy, body image and psycho-physical well-being, in 145 athletically active young adults (65 males and 80 females).

Methods

The participants completed the following: Big Five Questionnaire Short-version, Self-efficacy scale, Silhouette Figure Body Images, Body Mass Index, and digit ratio.

Results

Positive correlations were found between openness to experience and conscientiousness (p < 0.05) in both males and females. Real image values and ideal image values were significantly related among them (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can affirm that personality traits can influence the idea of body image so much that it can go beyond the objective reality of self-image.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Virgin Active gym in Catania, and Mario Maniace, Donato Ezio, Chiara Minissale, D’Orto Gianluca, and Tiziana Maci for their availability. We also thank the Scientific Bureau of the University of Catania for language support.

Funding

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, 95123, Catania, Italy

    Marinella Coco

  2. Department of Educational Sciences, University of Catania, 95100, Catania, Italy

    Claudia Savia Guerrera, Giuseppe Santisi, Chiara Minissale, Santo Di Nuovo & Valentina Perciavalle

  3. Department of Human and Social Sciences, School of Sport Sciences, Kore University, Enna, Italy

    Donatella Di Corrado, Tiziana Ramaci & Monica Pellerone

  4. Department of Mental Health of ASP 3 in Catania, Alzheimer Center Psychogeriatry, Catania, Italy

    Tiziana Maci

  5. Department of Research, Horus Social Cooperative, 97100, Ragusa, Italy

    Andrea Buscemi

  6. Department of Research, Italian Center Studies of Osteopathy, 95100, Catania, Italy

    Andrea Buscemi

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  1. Marinella Coco
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  2. Claudia Savia Guerrera
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  10. Valentina Perciavalle
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  11. Andrea Buscemi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marinella Coco.

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Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Ethical approval

The study obtained ethical permission from the University Internal Review Board for psychological research at the University “KORE” of Enna.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Coco, M., Guerrera, C.S., Di Corrado, D. et al. Personality traits and athletic young adults. Sport Sci Health 15, 435–441 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-019-00551-3

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