RELATIONS BETWEEN THE PERSONALITY TRAITS OF THE FIVEFACTOR MODEL AND MOTIVATION OF JUNIOR VOLLEYBALL

Abstract

The aim of this transversal research was twofold: to check the metric characteristics of the measuring instruments, and to examine the interactions of the model of The Big Five personality traits – Big Five (as predictor) and dimensions of motivation (as criterion) on a sample of junior volleyball players. The pertinent sample included (N = 218) junior Serbian volleyball players of average age (Mage= 18.05, SD = 1.52). the following measuring instruments were used: Big Five Inventory (BFI), Sport Attitudes Inventory (SAI), and Task and ego orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ). Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient has shown that the values of internal consistency of the measuring instruments are satisfactory, which means that they are suitable to be used in the context of Serbian sports. Two canonical functions statistically significant on the level (p ≤ 0.03) were extracted using the canonical correlation analysis. The first pair of the isolated canonical factors, with 37% of the explained variance, is determined by personality traits: conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness, as well as by the dimensions of motivation: motive for achieving power, motive for achieving success, and task orientation. The second pair of the isolated canonical factors in the group of personality traits is defined by the variables: neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness (on the negative end), motive for avoiding failure, and goal orientation (on the positive end). That isolated canonical latent variable indicates that young athletes are prone to avoidance as a model of behavior. Empirical findings of this research can be used in player selection and managing sports training and competition of junior volleyball players. The obtained canonical structures can contribute to a better understanding of correlations between latent variables in adolescent volleyball population in Serbia, which have not been sufficiently examined nor scientifically explained.