Compatibility and Successful Performance

The study examined the relationship of compatibility among elite wrestlers and their coaches to relative success in performance. Compatibility was assessed using both Schutz's (1966) FIRO-B and the coaches' and athletes' perceptions of the athletes' communicativeness, receptivity to instructor, and withdrawnness. The athletes assessed their performance relative to (a) other wrestlers in their competitive class and (b) their precompetition expectations. None of the compatibility measures significantly accounted for variance in the first measure. Relative to precompetition expectations, the athletes' assessment of their communication and withdrawnness accounted for 64% of the variance.