Extraversion as a personality dimension moderating the relationship between caring climate and athletes’ relationships with teammates

Researchers have identified many benefits for athletes who experience a caring climate (Fry & Gano-Overway, 2010). Despite the strong research line identifying the positive effects of a caring climate, little attention has been directed to exploring potential moderators that might alter its influence. To this end, the researchers of the current study collaborated with a school district in the Mountain West region of the U.S. Middle and high school athletes (N = 180) were recruited to examine the moderating effect of low extraversion versus high extraversion on the relationships between athletes' perceptions of a caring climate and their relationship with teammates. Moderation analysis indicated that as athletes' perceptions of the caring climate increased, relationships with teammates displayed an upward trend for both low and high extraverted athletes, with the strongest trend occurring for low extraverted athletes. Findings from this study not only confirmed the positive effect of a caring climate on youth athletes' sports experiences but also considered personality factors, perhaps for the first time. Lastly, results suggest if young athletes are low in extraversion and in a caring climate, they may find the team environment more conducive to building relationships with their peers, which is an important outcome of the youth sports experience (Ullrich-French & Smith, 2006).