In young archers the tendency to be on edge goes with difficulty communicating, not with character traits

1 study · 30 archers measured

Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

There is a single Russian study of thirty boys aged 14 to 18 from an Olympic reserve school. Tension is measured with the scale the Russian questionnaire calls "neurotisation": it describes traits of nervous tension, it is not a diagnosis, and the boys are athletes at a sports school, not patients. Of everything measured, the only thing that goes with higher tension is low communication skill, with a Spearman correlation of 0.694; with the character accentuations of the Leonhard and Schmieschek questionnaire no link emerges at all, and the authors' hypothesis, that tension came from a cluster of personality traits, is not borne out. In thirty boys of the same age who do rifle shooting the route is different and runs through the way problems are faced. Two things hold the reading back: in the archers tension is described as low overall, so the link concerns small differences, and a correlation taken at a single point in time cannot say whether those who communicate less become more tense or whether tense boys simply talk less.

Also phrased as: "a tense youngster is just made that way"; "character and tension in young archers"; "young archers who get nervous in competition"; "neuroticism in young archers"; "communication and anxiety in junior archers"

In practice

Of the youngster who tightens up in competition it is often said that this is just how he is, that it is a matter of character, and that with some characters a coach can do little.

Evidence

2018
For Archers Published later

30 young male archers aged 14 to 18 from an Olympic reserve school, a non-clinical sample: low communication skill goes with higher scores on the "neurotisation" scale of the Lasko and Tonkonogiy questionnaire, a measure of traits of nervous tension rather than a diagnosis, with a Spearman correlation of 0.694, which the authors report as significant. It is the only significant link found in the archers.

Психологические факторы невротизации юных спортсменов-лучников · Maria Semenovna Nafanailova, Valentina Viktorovna Rybalkina
2018
For Archers Published later

In the same 30 archers, no significant Spearman correlation between the tension score and the Leonhard and Schmieschek character accentuation scales. The authors declare their hypothesis, that tension depended on a cluster of individual personality traits, not confirmed.

Психологические факторы невротизации юных спортсменов-лучников · Maria Semenovna Nafanailova, Valentina Viktorovna Rybalkina
2018
Context Archers Published later

In the archers, the tension score is described as low or very low overall: the link with communication concerns differences within a mostly calm range, not boys in difficulty.

Психологические факторы невротизации юных спортсменов-лучников · Maria Semenovna Nafanailova, Valentina Viktorovna Rybalkina
2018
Context Other sport Published later

In the 30 boys of the same age who do rifle shooting, high tension goes instead with a confrontational coping style, and the questionnaire's other scale, which describes traits such as coldness towards others and stubbornness, goes with poor planning in problem solving and with hyperthymia. The two precision disciplines reach tension by different routes.

Психологические факторы невротизации юных спортсменов-лучников · Maria Semenovna Nafanailova, Valentina Viktorovna Rybalkina

Status history

1990 Not studied In the registry's bibliography nobody had yet measured nervous tension in young archers alongside their character traits and the way they communicate: the idea that a youngster who tightens up in competition is simply made that way circulated without data.
2018 Reported The first and only study arrives. In thirty young archers from an Olympic reserve school, with tension measured by a questionnaire scale rather than a diagnosis, the only link that emerges is between low communication skill and higher tension, with a Spearman correlation of 0.694; with character accentuations there is no correlation, and the authors' hypothesis that tension depended on a cluster of personality traits is not confirmed. In boys of the same age who do rifle shooting the route is different and runs through a confrontational coping style. It is a cross-sectional study of thirty boys, in a regional journal: reported.

Research lines

Cite

APA

Campagna, M. (2026). In young archers the tendency to be on edge goes with difficulty communicating, not with character traits (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/young-archers-tension-communication

BibTeX

@misc{campagna2026_comunicazionenevroticismogiovaniarcieri,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {In young archers the tendency to be on edge goes with difficulty communicating, not with character traits},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/young-archers-tension-communication},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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