Cycling - insights: Marina Gerin Birsa The personality of the amateur cyclist 
Dr. Marina Gerin Birsa, Sports Psychologist, Head SPOPSAM for Friuli VG (Professional Psychology of Professional Sports and Activities engine), curator of the site www.psymedisport.com The Sport Psychology is a body of knowledge that are applied to highlight the potential of cognitive and emotional 'athlete, depending on the improvement of its competitive performance. Referring to Singer (1993), we can say that in sport psychology are formulated scientific basis - together with other disciplines such as sports medicine, the mechanics of movement, physiotherapy and dietetics - for training, performance and competition Sport: she does any educational, organizational and programmatic, in addition to knowledge of the psychological behavior of people belonging to the world of sport. In the first research carried out during the 50s and 60s frequently occupied scholars of personality characteristics of athletes, trying to determine the relationships between the psychological profiles and competitive activity, but these studies often lack scientific validity because of the 'application of instruments not calibrated specifically to investigate the characteristics of the athlete, such as projective tests like the Rorschach or the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory ).
During the '70s and '80s the methodologies applied to psychological studies became more valid from a scientific perspective, it was discussed several avenues of research on more practical issues, depending on the performance enhancement of athletes. There is an extensive literature on the connection between sport and personality, but unfortunately a lot of research is unacceptable from the methodological point of view, often because of the small number of subjects. In a paper cited by Eysenck, Nias and Cox (1982) to a group of Olympic athletes were administered the EPQ questionnaire that provides measures of three dimensions of personality: introversion-extroversion, emotional stability-lability, maladaptive and antisocial and 'last scale that measures the degree of simulation-social naivete. In this study subjects were examined in 8 different sports, including a group of cyclists, cyclists and fencers were the most introverted of the sample.
It 's a bit difficult to assign meaning to these few details: We can still say that there is a tendency on the part of the group of cyclists examined the subjects to be quiet, reserved, cold, which retain some control over their emotions, rarely behave aggressively and do not lose your temper. A work of Hagberg (1979) found that a group of cyclists who had been administered the 'EPQ and the Profile of Mood States introverts were more normal, less anxious, less depressed, less angry and had scored more highest on the scale of physical vigor.
In a study by Hehl (1981) are compared to the athletes' hand-glider and a group of cyclists. Based on 'hypothesis formulated by Zuckerman on " sensation-seeking" (beliefs and behaviors antisocial sensation seeking, irritability, unusual or eccentric experiences), these authors predicted that the cyclists than the other two groups, would have been less depressed, less indulgent towards him, with less promiscuous sexual activity, more anxious, more prone hypochondria, more stable at the professional level, and less negligent with family ties closer. The results confirmed the hypothesis. The search for
Lavarda lived on psychological and social extraction of a group of professional cyclists outlines the following profile: "The author noted that the origin socio - economic classes is often small: observation integrated with data from the amateur sector, confirming the homogeneity of mining, farming and working in general.
extraction also explains part of the reasons that lead to the sport. Being in a social context that offers no possibility of escalation sometimes determine the use of cycling to emerge and escape. This desire for social mobility is confirmed by the fact that the majority of the group of cyclists studied married women graduates or with a socio - cultural level higher. "One might add an observation: the fact that the rider time often came from social class workers (even if today the trend is changing based on social changes) shows an attempt by the social elevation of the athlete through the sport, but also testifies to the learning environment in the context of the concept of family and work as physical labor.
Cycling is a sport of strength, prolonged physical exertion, exposure to cold, rain, snow or high temperatures, the cyclist is certainly an athlete who knows how to suffer to achieve his goals. Other research on the characterological features of cyclists confirm and extend the concepts set out above;
- The resistance to frustration: the average cyclist understates and neglects the frustrations and the difficulties facing demonstrating a high endurance passive frustration.
The sport of cycling requires persistence, attention to their energy mix and the characteristic of not react directly against opponents.
- The presence of a relatively low anxiety preagonistica in road cycling, caused by the fact that the race winds along a path that can reach 250 km. travel and may last more than seven hours, how competitive these overshadow the impact of the anxiety component.
course you can not make the same speech for the track cycling.
- The depression happened is rather frequent cycling in the field and is manifested especially in the movement from one category: When a professional cyclist becomes not only subjected to the influence of interpersonal and environmental changes - changes in the sporting group, calls that last longer, different lifestyles, frequent transfers - but enter into a role, that of a professional rider, loading the weight of responsibility to sponsors and to the fans.
This situation may create some discomfort in athletes, which is brought into question.
To conduct my research I used the Cognitive Behavioral Assessment (CBA) Sport version: the ABC Sports is a questionnaire to a process of collecting and processing information according to the psychological assessment of the subject. The CBA Sport aims to highlight the potential of the athlete, his personality characteristics and any issues relating to competitive performance, including both the mode of interaction of the subject, it is his inner world.
This survey instrument is based on a feedback system involving many areas of psychology, with the help of some scales and questionnaires selected to assess the psychological condition of 'athlete and his personality traits: the 13 cards that provide up evaluation anxiety of the subject in most situations, its psycho-physiological, the ability to deal with the environment, the presence of phobias and fears, the presence of symptoms of depression, the perception of aspects of his body, ' physical fitness, awareness of their emotions during the race and in training and the degree of self-esteem.
the data collected through the CBA Sport statistical procedures were applied in order to highlight the statistically significant effects: among the various statistical methods used in this study cite the analysis of variance, the correlation coefficient and Pearson 's Factor Analysis.
studies were conducted to validate the battery and CBA Sport obtain normative data, the initial sample examined to validate the test is composed of 582 males distributed as follows: 63 handball players, 92 players, 364 players, 63 car drivers.
The work I have done is to help plot a course of research on the personality profile of those who practice the sport of cycling at the amateur level, but it must be stressed that this type of survey conducted on a sample offers a wealth of information limited and not meant to be definitive.
I chose to take care of recreational cyclists for athletes who pursue their athletic activities at this level are in an interesting and difficult period of transition, in fact, the amateur athlete does not run longer just for entertainment or sporting passion, but often it is the Company's salaried sports: running cycling is therefore a work in all respects, although this work is confirmed season to season. But it is also an amateur runner who aspires to enter the professional, where it could find fame, success, money and above all satisfaction.
We are therefore faced with an athlete trying to break through, to reach a competitive level higher, but certainly more prestigious. My first research hypothesis is proposed to draw a general profile of those who have personality traits the cyclist, highlighting any significant differences between the category of under 23 and that of the Elite.
But let's get to the results: the subjects of the sample come from 16 different teams Triveneto, have an average age of 23.76 years and 9.39 years on average from train. The sample is then quite young, but has experienced a long process of training. The road racer and long-distance rider are the roles performed more frequently.
Half of the subjects received at least one major sports title: In this figure we find that 5% had obtained a worldwide and 14% nationally. Almost half of the subjects practice a sport other than cycling, in particular stands out the percentage on the football and swimming.
Half of the subjects had a significant and stable emotional relationship that is evaluated largely quite good, while 30% of those not involved in the report claims to have some adventure. Regarding the sexual life, 25% had never had any sexual experience complete (in this regard we must consider the young age of the sample), 75% of athletes do not have any sexual disorder.
Of considerable interest are the proportions of characteristics of the sport of amateur cyclist emerging from the research: 70% report the presence of a significant physical exertion, 43% report withdrawals long, tiring journeys to 40%, 28% anxiety and tension and 13% pace and long hours.
This picture shows us the harshness of this sport which is considered very difficult by those who practice it: surely this kind of competitive sport requires a significant commitment and dedication by the athletes. Some 80% said they were quite satisfied with his work and its results, especially the elite class who reported a higher average than the younger group.
This may be explained by the fact that the athlete in cycling normally reaches its optimal condition to the 24/28 years precisely in this age group and beyond runners achieve their highest level through the highest performer to good fitness, and also thanks to the considerable wealth of experience that makes them more mature. L '89% of cyclists go d' Agreement with whom he trains.
, 41% changed sports club or coach during the last year. 96% and 68% do not smoke do not drink hardly ever, while 17% drank only during meals. L '85% had a normal appetite, although the runners often eat in a hurry or out: this fact is due to the rhythms of their' business cycle. The majority of the sample sleep well, though sometimes almost half of those employing more than 30 minutes to fall asleep.
27% has some problems of physical pain on the neck, shoulders, back and legs: the affected areas these disorders are more parties involved in this activity. 30% of the subjects makes use of pharmaceutical substances to improve their performance, 11% said they had tried a few times amphetamine and 4% still makes use of some drugs.
Let us now examine the results of the subjects in the three anxiety scales in the questionnaire: Regarding the status anxiety - anxiety in this situation at the time of administration of the questionnaire - it is clear that the subjects in question did not experience it provided a very high anxiety .
The Elite Group is to average less high on this scale than the younger group, probably this fact is due to more experience and preparation the older athletes in coping with new situations that could potentially cause some concern.
The subjective assessment of anxiety treatment of cyclists - which refers to a stable personality trait anxious - we do not presents particularly anxious subjects. The last relative scale of anxiety was experienced at the end of the questionnaire shows us again that athletes are not so young to be less anxious than the group-level situational Under 23: this figure corroborates the above considerations on the peace of mind Class Elite.
In summary, the Elite group was less anxious group under 23 only with regard to situational anxiety, but there are no major differences in the presence of a stable personality trait anxious subjects. The scale on the psycho-physiological reactions resulting from a 'interaction between psychological factors and organic factors, the average of the entire sample is rather low, this can lead one to suppose that the runners do not have big problems in psychophysical level. I have observed the existence of a significant relationship between the three scales of 'anxiety in the CBA and Sport Questionnaire psycho-physiological, which supports the hypothesis of a relationship between the level of anxiety experienced by the subjects and their tendency to somatization .
All correlation coefficients calculated to assess the intensity of this report between the variables are statistically significant, especially with regard to trait anxiety.
The Assertiveness Questionnaire measures the ability of individuals to assert their needs and achieve them, through the calculation of three different scores on the degree of assertiveness, aggression and passivity of the subject. The entire sample turns out to be quite assertive (9.1) is not very aggressive (4.68) nor liability in respect of the environment (4,63). The inventory of fears detects the presence of fears and phobias and calculates a score on the social rejection: the average obtained from the sample of cyclists is very low compared to the control group.
The questionnaire on depression scored an average rather low: the cyclists tested do not show significant depressive manifestations.
The scale that measures body awareness, the tendency to perceive their physical, its features and physical efficiency, related to the assessment of their health, shows the average quite high. The Elite group seems to show a greater awareness of self and body enjoy a greater degree of good physical fitness. The questionnaire measures the tendency of the athlete's self-awareness to reflect on more personal aspects of one's self in relation to others, both in competition and in training.
The sample of cyclists is more aware of itself at the private level, the rider tends to think of its deeper aspects rather than the more obvious to others, both in competition and in training. The Under 23 category achieved a significantly higher in the sub-scale of self-body in public and in the race to achieve sub-scale social anxiety experienced in training, while tending to the higher significance of the result obtained in the sub-scale of 'social anxiety in the race.
These data suggest that the younger group is concerned about the opinion of whoever is looking at providing competitive spirit, as it appears in public and how it is judged by others.
This concern is also present during training and gives rise to a certain level of anxiety. The results of these sub-scales can be connected to the considerations made about the scale of 'status anxiety: even in that case, the younger group was found more anxious and worried than the older, more used to the presence of the public and the cameras.
The affirmation of self-assessment questionnaire measures the degree of self-esteem of the athlete at three levels (prototype, and self eterovalutativo). The sample shows an appropriate allocation between the three aspects considered, with a higher score in the sub-scale appearance of self-evaluated: that is to mean that on average the subjects are balanced and well-adjusted, able to give reinforcements to support themselves and on their own during times of adversity.
The Elite Group has achieved a higher average levels eterovalutativo and self-evaluation than under 23. These data indicate that older individuals have more confidence in themselves, but actively looking for more positive view of others.
were also calculated three factors that measure the proper assessment of the affirmation of the subject itself, the search for succe ss and ability to actively engage.
The Elite group tends to further evaluate the self-affirmation and the search for more victory. It comes out of the picture group of young people less aggressive and more ambitious: they have no desire to break through, to get pro.
The scale of the Locus of control refers to the control, internal or external, perceived by the subject about the events of his life, the average of 11.5 achieved by the entire sample suggests that people sometimes perceive reinforcement as dependent on its behavior and sometimes as uncontrollable. A further assumption made by me for a report from considering the support of the team as an important variable in the pursuit of victory: the relationship between the degrees earned by athletes and the item 'The harmony of the group I help win "is reflected in statistical significance.
Surely this can not be fully confirmed by these data, but they may provide some indication of the importance which the union as a team to achieve victory.
The last hypothesis took into account the existence of personality differences in specialties of the climbers and sprinters, this hypothesis stems from the consideration that the members of these two specialties are subject to a different workout, have a different muscle and specialization play different tasks within the team.
The resulting data confirm the working hypothesis, highlighting the presence of some statistically significant differences between the means of two special considerations.
Conclusions
The CBA Sport proves a tool that can analyze some important features of personality.
From this work come out of the interesting things about the personality of an amateur cyclist, on average, he leads a regular life, it seems quite satisfied with his athletic activities, it is very tense and very depressed, has positioned itself in its environment and keen to improve their performance through expert advice, is subject to some kind of psycho-physiological disorder such as having to urinate frequently or have sweaty hands and has no phobias or fears of some importance, except to feel rejected and rejected by others.
The cyclist has a good awareness of his bodily functions and is perceived as a physiologically effective, feel healthy both physically and mentally, during races and workouts are aware of how it looks to others but also changes its state ' mind, has a balanced assessment of himself, has confidence in his abilities, a strong motivation for success and wants to improve its performance through continued training. As the two
Elite and Under 23 categories have emerged some peculiarities specific runners older than younger appear to be less anxious and more aware of the capabilities of their bodies, more satisfied with their sport, they would have more positive opinion of themselves and seeking greater success.
is interesting to find some connections between the findings from my research and previous studies sullapersonalità cyclists: in fact, cited by Eysenck contribution there is a tendency on the part of riders to be examined subjects quiet, reserved, which retain some control over their emotions, rarely behave aggressively and do not lose your temper. In the work of Hagberg
was found that riders of that of the standard sample were more introverted, less anxious, less depressed, less aggressive, and had scored significantly higher on the ladder of physical force, even in the search for Lavarda it shows the presence of a low-anxiety preagonistica in road cycling.
course, these aspects of personality were measured with tests that have different characteristics, but it seems that the results of this research can somehow draw a single process of thought. In conclusion, I hope I have helped to draw up a personality profile of an amateur cyclist who carries on his discipline at a competitive level: certainly all the results analyzed in this study do not claim to be resolute and decisive, but can be a starting point for further into this matter.
Chart 1 shows the percentage of roles and specialties of recreational cyclists who participated in the research.
FIGURE 1
In Figure 2 you can see the percentages on the characteristics of the sport of amateur cliclisti sample examined.
FIGURE 2
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