Exploring the link between cortisol levels and personality traits among professional athletes

Abstract

Understanding the association between personality traits and cortisol expression may assist in monitoring and managing mental health in athletes. This study used a singlegroup case study design to quantify the psychophysiological profiles of 26 male athletes from one professional Australian Rules football team (mean age 22.5 ± 4.3 years). Athletes completed salivary cortisol and personality measures. Results showed group mean baseline salivary cortisol levels of 5.7 nmol/L (SD = 3.56) ranging from 1.82 to 9.90 nmol/L. The BFI-10 data showed a mean of 3.92 (SD = 1.1) for the personality variable openness, conscientiousness scoring a mean of 4.73(SD = 1.8), extraversion with a mean of 4.69 with (SD = 1.7), a mean of 4.18(SD = 1.9) for agreeableness, and a mean of 4.42 (SD = 0.9) for neuroticism. However, Pearson's correlation coefficient showed no significant relationship between baseline cortisol and personality variables.