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Tennis Anyone? Personality Correlates of Singles and Doubles Playing Preferences
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by Lynne M. Schoenauer, Gregory S. Thomas, Bill Teigler, and Irwin P. Levin* - University of Iowa
Categories: Social | Sport Psychology
The current research examines individual differences between people who prefer to perform a task alone and people who prefer to cooperate with a partner. The contributions of self-esteem, agreeableness, locus of control, and optimism were investigated in prediction of doubles or singles playing preference in recreational tennis players. Seventy recreational tennis players (aged 16-75) completed measures of singles/doubles playing preference, locus of control, optimism/pessimism, agreeableness, and self-esteem. Results of regression analysis show the strongest predictor of singles or doubles playing preference is optimism/pessimism. Players who prefer to play doubles were more agreeable and more optimistic than players who prefer to play singles.