the comparison of big five personality traits between male and female athletes and non-athletes

the aim of this study was to compare big five personality traits between male and female athletes and non-athletes. 200 athlete and non-athlete students (100 men and 100 women) were selected by simple random sampling method as the sample of the study. the subjects completed neo – ffi. the data were analyzed by spss 16, two-way anova to determine the differences among the groups and tukey post hoc test to compare and determine the mean difference between each two groups. the results showed a significant difference among groups in neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness while no difference was observed among groups in flexibility. also, there was no significant difference in neuroticism and flexibility between gender and sportsmanship while there was a significant difference in extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness.