Personal and Group Environment Factors of Water Polo Players

This study examined to see if Division I female water polo players (n = 113) had a distinct personality profile when compared to their counterpart of other female college students (n = 170). Also, this study analyzed to see the impact personality traits and team cohesion variables had on overall athletic satisfaction in female water polo players. The measures used were as follows: for personality, the Personal Style Inventory for College Students (PSI, Lounsbury & Gibson, 2008); for team cohesion, Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ, Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985) ; and for athletic satisfaction, Athletes Satisfaction Questionnaire (ASQ, Riemer & Chelladurai, 1998). The results looking at the differences between means and effect sizes in regard to the Big Five Personality traits in water polo players and other college students showed a significant difference in 3 out of the 5 traits (conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness). Then, when looking at overall athletic satisfaction in their athletic experience a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed. The Big Five Personality traits only accounted for 7% of the variance (statistically insignificant change in R² [coefficient of determination], p = .16), while the four team cohesion measures accounted for 55% (p < .001) of the variance, a large effect. In particular, a part correlation showed that significant results between athletic satisfaction and Individual attraction to the group-Task (ATG-T, r_part [part correlation]= .37, p < .001) and Group Integration-Task (GI-T, r_part [part correlation]= .29, p < .001). These findings have implications to help players and coaches understand if they would be a good fit for a Division I water polo team and to understand how to best make a team successful. Future research can also be done to see if these results are generalizable to other similar team sports as well (i.e. soccer, hockey, etc.).