Using the Language of elite athletes to predict their personality and on court transgressions
Abstract Personality is predictive of many behaviors, but personality questionnaires cannot be readily administered to persons of interest. The language people use to express themselves can often predict personality and so should, in theory, provide a surrogate marker for predicting behavior. We use...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99667-5 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850133430338060288 |
|---|---|
| author | Maor Daniel Levitin Itamar Zan Ger Ze’ev Sovik Ariel Taieb Lyle Ungar Michael Gilead |
| author_facet | Maor Daniel Levitin Itamar Zan Ger Ze’ev Sovik Ariel Taieb Lyle Ungar Michael Gilead |
| author_sort | Maor Daniel Levitin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Personality is predictive of many behaviors, but personality questionnaires cannot be readily administered to persons of interest. The language people use to express themselves can often predict personality and so should, in theory, provide a surrogate marker for predicting behavior. We used social media (Twitter) language from a sample of 252 NBA players to estimate their Five Factor personality scores, and then, used these scores to try and predict on-court transgressive behavior. A machine learning model was able to predict players’ tendency to commit technical fouls (predictive performance: r = .18); with the most important contributors to the model including neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness. These findings show that personality can predict individual choices and behaviors in specific contexts; furthermore, by assessing the degree to which our digital footprint can be used to derive actionable predictions of behavior, the current findings could inform discussions concerning regulations of data privacy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-83c91a2fe8a04a5688809658d567af7d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-83c91a2fe8a04a5688809658d567af7d2025-08-20T02:31:58ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-05-011511810.1038/s41598-025-99667-5Using the Language of elite athletes to predict their personality and on court transgressionsMaor Daniel Levitin0Itamar Zan Ger1Ze’ev Sovik2Ariel Taieb3Lyle Ungar4Michael Gilead5Tel-Aviv UniversityBen-Gurion University of the NegevTel-Aviv UniversityTel-Aviv UniversityUniversity of PennsylvaniaTel-Aviv UniversityAbstract Personality is predictive of many behaviors, but personality questionnaires cannot be readily administered to persons of interest. The language people use to express themselves can often predict personality and so should, in theory, provide a surrogate marker for predicting behavior. We used social media (Twitter) language from a sample of 252 NBA players to estimate their Five Factor personality scores, and then, used these scores to try and predict on-court transgressive behavior. A machine learning model was able to predict players’ tendency to commit technical fouls (predictive performance: r = .18); with the most important contributors to the model including neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness. These findings show that personality can predict individual choices and behaviors in specific contexts; furthermore, by assessing the degree to which our digital footprint can be used to derive actionable predictions of behavior, the current findings could inform discussions concerning regulations of data privacy.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99667-5 |
| spellingShingle | Maor Daniel Levitin Itamar Zan Ger Ze’ev Sovik Ariel Taieb Lyle Ungar Michael Gilead Using the Language of elite athletes to predict their personality and on court transgressions Scientific Reports |
| title | Using the Language of elite athletes to predict their personality and on court transgressions |
| title_full | Using the Language of elite athletes to predict their personality and on court transgressions |
| title_fullStr | Using the Language of elite athletes to predict their personality and on court transgressions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using the Language of elite athletes to predict their personality and on court transgressions |
| title_short | Using the Language of elite athletes to predict their personality and on court transgressions |
| title_sort | using the language of elite athletes to predict their personality and on court transgressions |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99667-5 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT maordaniellevitin usingthelanguageofeliteathletestopredicttheirpersonalityandoncourttransgressions AT itamarzanger usingthelanguageofeliteathletestopredicttheirpersonalityandoncourttransgressions AT zeevsovik usingthelanguageofeliteathletestopredicttheirpersonalityandoncourttransgressions AT arieltaieb usingthelanguageofeliteathletestopredicttheirpersonalityandoncourttransgressions AT lyleungar usingthelanguageofeliteathletestopredicttheirpersonalityandoncourttransgressions AT michaelgilead usingthelanguageofeliteathletestopredicttheirpersonalityandoncourttransgressions |