Personality Traits of the Best

A 1978 study by Duthie, Hope, and Barker, Selected personality traits of martial artists as measured by the Adjective Checklist, found a number of personality traits that differentiate between superior martial artists and average martial artists.

Superior martial artists scored higher on:

Defensiveness
Self-confidence
Achievement
Dominance
Endurance
Affiliation
Heterosexuality
Exhibitionism
Autonomy

They were scored lower on:

Willingness to give aid
Abasement
Counseling readiness

The authors concluded that the differences between superior and average martial artists imply that martial arts training changed personal characteristics rather than the martial artists choosing to change.

Beliefs and Performance

The cognitions, or thought processes, in which an athlete engages may be critical to performance. A 1996 study by Williams and Leffingwell, Cognitive strategies in sport and exercise psychology, found several assumptions underlie the use of cognitive-behavioral inventions:

Cognitions can affect athletic performance.
These thought processes can be changed.
This change can influence behavioral change, and therefore, improve performance.

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