Citation

Svebak S, Kerr J. Pers. Individ. Dif. 1989; 10(1): 51-58.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0191-8869(89)90177-3

PMID

unavailable

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.