Path associations between trait personality, enjoyment, and effort by gender in high school physical education

Various combinations or dimensions of personality traits are associated with achievement and its related behaviours in a host of domains including academia, physical activity, and sport. Little is yet known about how these trait personality dimensions relate to vital outcomes such as enjoyment and effort in school-age physical education students. The primary intent of this study was to test a proposed path model wherein personality and effort relate indirectly through enjoyment by gender in 316 students in 9th and 10th-grade physical education. Secondary objectives were to assess gender-specific levels of and relations among the six (HEXACO) personality dimensions, the prediction of effort by personality dimensions, and relations between enjoyment, effort, and the facets (sub-scales) of the personality dimensions. Surveys were completed that assessed students' effort, enjoyment, and HEXACO trait personality (honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience). In both boys and girls, the data fit the proposed paths with lower openness to experience and higher extraversion predicting enjoyment and effort via enjoyment. In boys, personality also predicted effort whereas honesty-humility predicted enjoyment. Girls' agreeableness showed a higher predictive effect on effort through enjoyment compared to that of boys. Further investigation is needed to determine whether students' particular profiles of trait personality (especially those lower in extraversion and higher in openness to experience; and, girls who are less agreeable) are more susceptible to compromised enjoyment and/or effort in high school physical education.