RELATION BETWEEN NEUROTICISM AND EXTRAVERSION AND THEIR EFFECT ON ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE

The objective of this study is to ascertain how neuroticism and extraversion relate to an athlete's growth and how these traits change in response to high-intensity training adaption in team sports. The study aims (i) to report the correlation between Neuroticism & Extraversion and (ii) to find the effect of above variables on cricket players. Participants: Total data was obtained from the 30 participants, practicing cricket who have played at the state level and are between the age group of 20-24 years (both male and female included) from different academies. Method: Participants filled the Maudsley Personality Inventory questionnaire through online mode according to the instructions provided to the athletes prior filling the questionnaire. Results: The findings revealed that the mean scores for neuroticism and extraversion were 11.09 and 26.03, with standard deviations of 11.09 and 5.47, respectively. The paired t-test yielded a value of 0.731 which is less that the critical value of 2.045 at 29 degree of freedom and a p-value of 0.471, exceeding the 0.05 significance threshold, indicating no significant relationship between these personality traits. Conclusions: The results suggest that neuroticism and extraversion operate as independent factors among the players. The effective psychological profiling of athletes, in team sports as well as in individual sports is very important to improve mental and emotional stability and focus in the game.