Personality of male wheelchair basketball players and nonathlete individuals with disability.

The aim of this study was to investigate the personality of male wheelchair basketball players and persons with disabilities who did not compete in sports. For the purposes of this study, wheelchair basketball players (N=25) and wheelchair nonathletes (N=32) completed a Cattell 16PF questionnaire. Basic descriptive statistics were used in the data processing, and differences between the two groups of participants were calculated by means of the t-test. The results demonstrated the existence of differences in the expression of certain forms of behavior within certain dimensions of personality between these two groups. Wheelchair basketball players had higher scores for factor B Reasoning (p=.025) and factor G Rule Consciousness (p=.001), which means that they exhibit a more developed ability of abstract thinking, problem solving, and have a higher “super ego”, a higher level of reliability and sense of duty to the obligations, compared to people who do not practice sports. Basketball players had lower scores, than non-athletes, for the following factors: E – Dominance (p=.036), I – Sensitivity (p=.001), O – Apprehension (p=.005) and Q2 – Self-Reliance (p=.023). That means that they exhibit a higher level of behavior mildness, conformity, modesty, and also, “sharper temper”, a higher level of confidence, resistance to stressful situations, and they are characterized as “dependent on the group”.