The role of impulsivity in preference for sports

Abstract

The association between impulsivity and sport preference was investigated in three Australian S samples. In each case, responses to the Telic Dominance Scale (TDS) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) were compared across contrasting groups. The first study involved high level performers of 'endurance' vs 'explosive' sports. A second approach explored leisure time sports that were exclusively performed by extremely paratelic dominant students of human movement (baseball, cricket, touch football, surfing, windsurfing). A validating study of the 'paratelic' and 'non-paratelic' sports recruited students from various university courses, other than human movement education. Results supported the idea that impulsivity is associated with preference for 'explosive' and 'paratelic' sports. However, results from the validating study indicated that extrinsic 'barrier', due to sex-related social norms, may prevent some females from fulfilling their wish to perform such sports. In contrast, intrinsic 'barriers' related to a lifestyle of high planning orientation and serious-mindedness (TDS) as well as low cognitive impulsivity (BIS), were significant for those males who did not fulfill their wish to perform a 'paratelic' sport.