Authors: Professor Naseem Ahmad Khan, Research Scholar Murli Manohar
Abstract: Generation Z college students in Lucknow are coming of age in a period marked by heavy digital engagement, academic pressure, and increasingly sedentary daily routines. This study set out to describe how active participation in sports relates to personality traits among this group. Using a descriptive, quantitative survey design, data were gathered from college students through a structured questionnaire combining a demographic and sports-participation section with a standardised personality measure based on the Big Five framework (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience). Students were grouped by their level of sports involvement (active participants versus non-participants) and by the nature of their sporting activity (team-based versus individual). Data were summarised using frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations, without inferential hypothesis testing, in order to build an accurate descriptive profile of personality patterns across these groups. The findings are expected to show that students who are regularly and actively involved in sports display comparatively higher mean scores on Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness, alongside lower average Neuroticism, while team-sport participants show distinctly higher Agreeableness scores linked to cooperative, socially engaged behaviour. The study situates these patterns within the specific cultural and educational context of Lucknow, where sports culture, gender norms, and campus infrastructure shape the way young people engage with physical activity. It concludes that structured sports participation offers Lucknow's colleges a practical, low-cost avenue for supporting the psychological and social development of Generation Z students, and recommends stronger institutional investment in sports infrastructure, inclusive participation policies, and awareness programmes that highlight the personality and well-being benefits of an active campus sporting culture.
