The Science of Personality Podcast Hogan in Sports
Sep 23, 2025
Nadine Maliakkal, PhD, is a consultant on Hogan's Talent Analytics team and an expert in using personality assessment in professional sports. In their engaging conversation, she explains how NFL and NBA teams harness personality insights for performance predictions and draft evaluations. Nadine reveals intriguing links between traits like prudence and performance metrics in football. She also discusses the differing personality profiles between offense and defense, and how attributes like resilience and coachability are crucial for athlete success.
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Synchronized Skating Shaped Her Team Mindset
- Nadine described growing up in many sports and choosing synchronized figure skating as a formative team experience.
- She credits synchronized skating with teaching teamwork, shared responsibility, and deep appreciation for collective performance.
From Skater To Sports IO Psychologist
- Nadine recounted her path from skater to IO psychologist and how college sports deepened her fandom.
- Interning at Hogan connected her research interests to an opportunity to work in sports analytics.
Sports And Business Share Talent Needs
- Sports organizations and corporations share goals like performance, leadership, and teamwork despite different contexts.
- This overlap makes personality assessment a natural fit for talent decisions in sports.