Is it a match? Predicting competition performance of beach volleyball dyads from their personalities

In competitive sports, assembling effective teams and dyads is essential, yet little is known about why some pairs outperform others. Recent research suggests that the fit of dyads’ motives may predict motor performance. To test whether these laboratory findings generalize to real-world performance, this study combined beach volleyball tournament data with athletes’ personality measures. Specifically, we investigated (1) whether dyadic motive fit can predict match performance, and (2) whether it adds predictive value beyond Big-5 traits. To this end, 59 German-speaking beach volleyball players from Germany, Austria and Switzerland completed an online questionnaire of implicit (Picture Story Exercise) and explicit (Unified Motive Scales) motives, and a Big-5 measure (Big Five Inventory-K). From these 59 participants, 52 unique beach volleyball dyads were identified and their performance data (placement, points) from 333 tournaments retrieved. Response Surface Analyses showed that dyads with congruently high explicit affiliation achieved more points and better rankings. Interestingly, congruently high explicit power motives were negatively associated with scored tournament points while there was no link to rankings. Dyads with slightly above mean congruent implicit affiliation and power motives performed worse. Big-5 measures showed better performance outcomes when dyads were similar in extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, and when they were dissimilar in conscientiousness. Together, these findings provide initial evidence for the role of dyadic motive fit in ecological settings like beach volleyball and may in the future advance our understanding of dyad compositions and their relationship to performance.