Read each term where it’s used
In Augment’s notes, a marked term shows its definition when you hover or tap it, and each page ends with the terms it introduces.
In Augment’s notes, a marked term shows its definition when you hover or tap it, and each page ends with the terms it introduces.
42 terms from Individual differences, each defined in a sentence or two, with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it. 18 of them are HL only, and marked.
A Big Five trait describing how well an individual relates to others and acts in ways that preserve relationships, being cooperative, trusting and considerate.
The reason an individual gives to explain the cause of an outcome, such as a success or a failure, for example ability, effort, task difficulty or luck.
An intervention that teaches individuals to attribute failure to unstable, controllable causes such as effort or strategy, rather than to stable, uncontrollable causes such as lack of ability.
A theory describing how individuals explain the causes of their successes and failures, and how these explanations affect their emotions, expectations, confidence and future behaviour.
A model that describes personality with five broad traits (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism), each measured on a continuum from low to high.
A syndrome of physical and emotional exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment and devaluation of sport, caused by long-term stress when demands exceed an athlete’s resources.
The component of mental toughness describing the tendency to appraise difficult situations, change and setbacks as opportunities for growth rather than as threats.
The component of mental toughness describing an individual’s tendency to set goals and persist with tasks until they are completed, despite obstacles and setbacks.
The component of mental toughness describing an individual’s belief in their own abilities to succeed and their assertiveness with others (interpersonal confidence).
A Big Five trait describing the tendency to control impulses, act in socially acceptable ways and behave in an organised, self-disciplined way that supports goal-directed behaviour.
The component of mental toughness describing perceived control over one’s emotions (emotional control) and the belief that one can influence events and outcomes through one’s own actions (life control).
The opposite pole of neuroticism, describing an individual’s tendency to stay calm and maintain emotional balance in stressful or demanding situations.
A Big Five trait describing the extent to which an individual draws energy from interacting with other people and seeks stimulation, being sociable, talkative, assertive and energetic.
The proportion of the variation in a trait within a population that is explained by genetic differences between individuals; it describes a population, not one person.
A pattern of mood scores on the Profile of Mood States in which an athlete scores below the population average on tension, depression, anger, fatigue and confusion and above average on vigour.
The view that behaviour results from an interaction between an individual’s personality traits and the situation or environment, summarised as B = f(P × E).
The opposite pole of extraversion, describing an individual who finds social interaction draining and prefers quieter, less stimulating settings; it is not the same as shyness.
A state in which an individual, after repeated failure or uncontrollable experiences, believes that their actions cannot change future outcomes and therefore stops trying.
The dimension of attribution describing whether the cause of an outcome is seen as internal (within the individual) or external (outside the individual); also called locus of causality.
The dimension of attribution describing whether the cause of an outcome is seen as stable (unlikely to change over time) or unstable (likely to change); it affects expectations of future success.
A relatively stable personality characteristic that can nevertheless be changed or developed over time through experience, training and the environment.
A response to failure in which an individual attributes the failure to changeable, controllable causes, keeps positive expectations and increases effort and persistence.
An aspect of personality that partly explains how individuals manage challenging and pressurised situations, including how they appraise challenges and remain committed, confident and in control under pressure.
The process of imitating a behaviour that has been observed in another person, the model; in social learning theory it depends on attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation.
A 48-item self-report questionnaire, based on the 4Cs model, that measures overall mental toughness and its components of challenge, commitment, control and confidence; the MTQ10 is a 10-item version.
A Big Five trait describing the extent to which an individual perceives situations as distressing and experiences negative emotions such as anxiety, worry and sadness.
Learning that takes place by watching the behaviour of others and the consequences of that behaviour, without needing to perform it or be rewarded directly.
A Big Five trait describing an individual’s willingness to try new things, their curiosity, imagination and capacity for original thinking, and their willingness to be vulnerable.
The individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that are relatively stable over time and across situations, shaped by an interaction between genetic traits and the environment.
The improvement in a person’s performance that results from the higher expectations that another person, such as a teacher or coach, holds for them.
The ability to adapt positively to and recover from adversity, setbacks or stress, returning to previous levels of functioning or performance; one part of mental toughness.
A person whose behaviour, attitudes and values are observed and imitated by others, especially when they are held in high regard because they are similar, competent or high in status.
A person’s belief in their ability to perform a specific task or succeed in a specific situation, built mainly from past performance accomplishments.
An expectation about a person or outcome that changes behaviour in a way that makes the expectation come true; in sport, confidence leads to more effort and persistence and so to success.
A measurement tool in which individuals answer standardised questions about their own thoughts, feelings or behaviour, usually by rating statements on a scale such as a Likert scale.
The tendency to attribute success to internal causes and failure to external causes, which protects self-esteem but can prevent learning from failure.
A relatively stable and enduring characteristic of an individual that predisposes them to think, feel and behave in a consistent way across different situations.
A view of personality as a set of relatively stable, enduring traits that are consistent across situations and can be measured and used to predict behaviour.
An increase in the likelihood of a behaviour that occurs when an individual observes another person being rewarded for that behaviour.
A model that describes mental toughness as four components: challenge, commitment, control (emotional and life control) and confidence (in one’s abilities and interpersonal confidence).
The tendency of participants to answer questions in a way they believe will be viewed favourably by others rather than accurately, which reduces the validity of self-report data.