Towards a More Individualised Practice of Motor Imagery: The Additional Value of the Personality Dimension Extraversion

Abstract

Motor imagery (MI) training is used to improve motor performance in both patients and athletes. The putative link between personality and MI remains however largely underexplored. In this pilot study, 72 sports students performed MI and physical execution of a finger pointing task. MI ability was assessed through the mental chronometry paradigm that captured the temporal components of imagery, as well as self-report measures of imagery vividness and imagery ease. Personality dimensions were assessed with the five-factor model. Extraversion was found to be significantly correlated with MI ability as measured with mental chronometry ( r = .37, p = .001) but not with imagery vividness ( r = −.08, p = .481) or imagery ease ( r = −.04, p = .741). The other personality dimensions were unrelated to MI ability (all p > .05). Based on these findings, we postulate that extravert individuals may have an advantage in controlling and maintaining the temporal aspect of mental movements. This may help extraverts to better benefit from imagery training.