The Identification of a Common Personality Typology in Elite College Female Tennis Players Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Sport is an opiate for the masses of spectators but a fierce arena of competition for the athletes. Coaches and players are constantly searching for ways to improve performance and increase the chance for a successful outcome. Trying to discover what makes the perfect athlete has led sport psychologists to study personality using trait assessments in the quest to uncover a common athletic type. These past studies were focused on identifying a personality difference between athletes and non-athletes or between athletes in one sport and athletes in another sport. The findings have done little to advance the field of sport psychology or improve an athlete's chance of advancing to the elite level of performance. In the attempt to identify a common typology or dichotomy of elite athletes in a particular sport, the present study assessed 57 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I female tennis players using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Athletes were between the ages of 18 and 22 and from six different states and 16 different countries. Results from this current quantitative, non-experimental design study indicate a statistically significant number of female elite tennis players displaying the ESTJ typology. Three dichotomies, extraversion, sensing and judging, are also statistically significant over the dichotomies of introversion, intuition and perceiving. Results are discussed and suggestions made for future research to create training programs and ways for coaches to use this information to improve the chance of athletic success for female tennis players.