The Big Five Personality Traits and Choking Susceptibility

Abstract

Choking susceptibility is the likelihood or potential of an individual choking under pressure (Mesagno et al., 2012). Choking susceptibility may be influenced by personality traits. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between the Big Five personality traits on choking susceptible and choking non-susceptible individuals. A protocol developed by Mesagno et al. (e.g., 2008; 2009), comprised of a self-consciousness scale, sport anxiety scale, and coping style scale, was used to measure choking susceptibility. Personality traits were measured using the Big Five Inventory-10. A total of 60 post-secondary students were analysed in this study; 30 were choking susceptible and 30 were choking non-susceptible. A MANOVA showed a significant effect of the personality traits on choking susceptibility. Separate univariate tests on the outcome variables (i.e., neuroticism, openness, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) revealed a significant effect for neuroticism. Additionally, a discriminant function analysis further showed that neuroticism contributed the most to choking susceptibility compared to the other four personality traits. According to the current study, individuals higher in neuroticism are more choking susceptible than those lower in neuroticism. Therefore, individuals who are neurotic may benefit from interventions designed for their personality to combat the likelihood of choking under pressure. This study is the first to use Mesagno’s choking susceptibility protocol outside of sport.