Why Negative or Positive, If It makes Me Win? Dark Personality in Spanish Competitive Athletes
Metadata
Show full item recordEditorial
MDPI
Materia
Narcissism Machiavellianism Psychopathy Competitiveness Sports
Date
2020-05Referencia bibliográfica
González-Hernández, J., Cuevas-Campos, R., Tovar-Gálvez, M. I., & Melguizo-Rodríguez, L. (2020). Why negative or positive, if it makes me win? Dark personality in Spanish competitive athletes. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(10), 3504. [DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17103504]
Sponsorship
Junta de Andalucia CTS 0267Abstract
Research on the dark triad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy) is
increasingly focusing on the functional or dysfunctional influences of personality traits on cognitive,
behavioural and emotional responses. Thus, studies in sport contexts have shown that athletes
who participate in competitive sports have higher scores in the dark triad than those who do not.
The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to evaluate the linear and predictive relationships
between dark traits and competitiveness (p < 0.01), as well as to identify any differences based on sports
orientation (professionals vs. amateurs). Scales SD3 (dark personality) and C−10 (competitiveness)
were applied to a sample of Spanish athletes (n = 806). The results show that competitiveness is
strongly related to the traits of the dark personality triad. Narcissism is related to both the desire to
win and the fear of losing, while Machiavellian tendencies are high when athletes feel like losers.
Finally, psychopathic tendencies are related to feelings of inferiority and fear of failure. In conclusion,
the results suggest that dark personality traits are related not only to the individuality of the athletes,
but also to the self-perception of both their psychological response and the competitiveness of their
sporting environment.