Selected personality traits, mood states, and pain tolerance in Taekwondo

P. McCarthy

2006, Indiana University

Within recreational activity, sports competition, and daily life, the ability to cope with pain has an effect on performance. While research studies have investigated several aspects of pain tolerance in athletes, few have focused on any connection between psychological variables and the ability to withstand pain.

The goal of this study was to explore the differences in pain tolerance between participants with differing psychological profiles. 17 members of Indiana University Taekwondo club and/or an academic Taekwondo class, eight females and nine males, were tested on a physical pain test similar to the "horse stance" used in many martial arts.

Conclusions. Major findings indicated that those participants with a higher mental disturbance reached their pain tolerance in less time than those with more desirable mental health profiles. Participants who would be described as being more extroverted also took less time to reach their pain tolerance level on the physical pain test.