Introduction It has been recommended (Allen, Greenlees, & Jones, 2011) that future research should consider how personality traits interact in determining specific types of sport related coping. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore what combinations of the Big-Five personality taxonomy are associated with sport-related coping. Methods Data was collected among four hundred UK athletes (male n = 237, female n = 163), aged between 18-48 years (Mage = 22,97 SD =7,0). Participants completed the Big-Five Inventory (BFI; John, Donahue, & Kentle, 1991) and the 37-item Dispositional Coping Inventory for Competitive Sport (DCICS;Hurst, Thompson, Visek, & Gaudreau, 2011). Results Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted for each coping subscale. At step one demographic variables were entered, at step two the Big-Five personality traits were added, and at step 3 two-way interaction effects were included. For task-oriented coping, the inclusion of a two-way interaction effect (R2adj = .255) showed a significant effect for the interaction between extraversion and neuroticism (β = -.19, P < .001), alongside neuroticism and openness (β = .15, P < .01). For distraction coping, the inclusion of a two-way interaction showed a significant interaction (R2adj = .380) for agreeableness and conscientiousness (β = .20, P < .001). Finally, for disengagement coping a significant two-way interaction effect (R2adj = .403) was found for extraversion and neuroticism (β = -.10, P < .05). Discussion Findings revealed that athletes who were low neurotic in conjunction with high extraversion and openness were more likely to report task-oriented coping. Distraction-oriented coping was preferred by athletes low in both conscientiousness and agreeableness traits. Finally, low extraversion and high neuroticism was associated with greater use of disengagement-oriented coping. The current findings reinforce the need to investigate the interactive effects of personality dimensions upon sport-related coping. Doing so would assist applied practitioners to maximise the potential of coping-related interventions by targeting particular personality profiles
