Does the idea of working with a team to play sports have you jumping for joy or groaning in dread? Like most things in life, not everyone agrees on how they like to play—or watch—their sports.

Scientists claim that, to some extent, genetics influence whether you prefer individual or team sports. With an AncestryDNA^® + Traits test, you can discover whether you have genetic markers that influence your preference for individual or team sports.

What Does It Mean to Prefer Individual or Team Sports?

Someone who chooses team sports over individual sports tends to gravitate toward activities that require teamwork to participate. They often revel in working together toward a common goal or competing against a common opponent. Team sports heavily emphasize working together to get the upper hand over another team. If you enjoy team sports, you probably play games such as:

• Soccer
• Football
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Hockey
• Volleyball
• Rugby

A person who enjoys individual sports activities, such as gymnastics or mountain biking, may like them more because of their emphasis on mastering a skill and performing it solo at a higher level. People who lean toward individual sports may enjoy activities like:

• Snowboarding
• Dancing
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Martial arts
• Golf
• Sprinting or endurance running

While both team and individual sports require diligence and training to perform well, there's one major difference between the two: personality type. Success with team sports requires cooperation and learning to work closely with teammates' strengths and weaknesses. Because of this difference, personality types may influence the type of sports someone prefers. One study found that athletes in individual sports tend to be more open on the Big Five personality trait spectrum than those in team sports. Another study suggested that team-sports participants tend to score higher on conscientiousness and extraversion.

The Genetic Role in the Preference for Team Sports

Genetic factors for individual sports and team sports may have some sway on which type of athletic activity you like best.

Ancestry^® scientists seeking to identify if there's a link between team sports and genetics performed a genome-wide association study. By comparing the DNA of more than 218,000 people who answered the question, “Do you prefer to compete in team or individual sports?” the AncestryDNA team identified more than 400 genetic markers that connect to a preference for team sports.

To expand on their findings, the team calculated a polygenic risk score. This type of tool assists Ancestry scientists in predicting the likelihood that a person possesses a particular trait by looking at their DNA. However, scientists know that DNA is only part of the picture when predicting traits. According to their findings, only 5% of the variation in whether people like team or individual sports can be explained by differences in their DNA. That means 95% of that variation is due to environmental factors and life experiences.

What Else Do Scientists Say About Team vs. Individual Sports?

A study from 2022 examined the association between participating in organized sports and mental health issues in children and adolescents. It divided sports participants into categories of team and individual sports. In this study, participation in team sports was associated with lower rates of anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, and attention related conditions.

Other studies have looked at the link between personality and someone’s choice of sports. For example, one study found individual-sport athletes tend to be more autonomous and conscientious, while team-sport athletes leaned toward agreeableness and sociotropy, a trait defined as being invested in successful interpersonal relationships. However, no significant differences were found in this study on extroversion or openness.

How Different Cultures View Team and Individual Sports

Sports are a universal element across all cultures. While the games may have different rules and end goals, they're a vital part of social interaction. Even globally, international games bring people together.

While team sports are more popular for the vast majority of the world—based on the World Population Review's list of the most popular sports—a handful of nations prefer individual sports as their favorite pastimes. Favorite team sports around the world include:

• Football (soccer), is the number one sport worldwide.
• American football, rather than baseball, is the most popular sport across every demographic in the United States.
• Baseball is the sport of choice in Japan.
• Canada and Finland’s favorite athletic pastime is ice hockey.
• In India and Pakistan, a passion for cricket overrides all other sports.
• The Chinese population loves basketball best, as do those in the Philippines.

Individual sports are favored in nations such as:

• Bhutan, where the most popular sport is archery, which requires intense precision, focus, and training.
• Mongolia, where the form of traditional wrestling known as Mongol Bokh is very popular. This sport requires participants to avoid touching the ground with anything other than a foot.
• Guadeloupe, where windsurfing is the favorite athletic activity.

If you're curious about your genetic preference for participating in team sports, an AncestryDNA + Traits test can help you discover whether you inherited some of the genetic markers that influence it. If you've already taken an AncestryDNA test, your results are ready to review now with an Ancestry membership.

References

“Culture and Sport.” Council of Europe. Accessed May 16, 2024. https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/culture-and-sport.

Gramlich, John, Anna Jackson, Michael Rotolo. “By a wide margin, Americans say football – not baseball – is ‘America’s sport.’” Pew Research Center. February 5, 2024. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/02/05/by-a-wide-margin-americans-say-football-not-baseball-is-americas-sport/.

Hoffmann, Matt D., Joel D. Barnes, et al. “Associations between organized sport participation and mental health difficulties: Data from over 11,000 US children and adolescents.” PLoS ONE. June 1, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268583.

Lim, Soyoun, Stacy Warner, et al. “Sport Participation Across National Contexts: A Multilevel Investigation of Individual and Systemic Influences on Adult Sport Participation.” European Sport Management Quarterly. June 2011. doi:10.1080/16184742.2011.579993.

“Mongol Bokh.” World Nomad Games 2024. Accessed May 16, 2024. https://worldnomadgames.com/en/sport/Mongol-bokh/.

“Most Popular Sport by Country 2024.” World Population Review. Accessed May 16, 2024. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-popular-sport-by-country.

Nia, Mahin Etemadi Nia and Mohammad Ali Besharat. “Comparison of athletes’ personality characteristics in individual and team sports.” ScienceDirect. September 21, 2010. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042810015636.

Shuai, Ying, Shaoshen Wang, et al. “The influence of the five-factor model of personality on performance in competitive sports: a review.” Frontiers in Psychology. December 14, 2023. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1284378.

Steca, Patrizia, Dario Baretta, et al. “Associations between personality, sports participation and athletic success. A comparison of Big Five in sporting and non-sporting adults.” Science Direct. October 3, 2017. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886917305986.

“Team Sports vs Individual Sports: Both Offer Lessons to Students.” Fresno Pacific University. August 12, 2021. https://ce.fresno.edu/news/team-sports-vs-individual-sports-both-offer-lessons-to-students/.