Analysis of Coaches' Leadership Style and Its Impact on Athletes' Satisfaction in University Football Teams

Abstract

Leadership style is a critical factor in achieving success in any field or goal. In sport, it is necessary to consider the complementarity between the coach’s leadership style and sporting satisfaction to achieve team success. In this study, we examine this factor using 194 male football players from public university teams. The research methodology aims to examine the multidimensional model of leadership style to understand the relationship between the five types of leadership styles training and instructions, social support, positive feedback, democratic leadership and autocratic leadership and athletes' satisfaction. Both aspects were captured through (i) the Leadership Scale of sports to assess leadership style and (ii) the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire to assess athlete satisfaction. SPSS was used in statistical analysis of data. From the correlation results, the relationships between all facets of leadership style (training and instruction, autocratic style, democratic style, social support, and positive feedback) and athlete satisfaction are significant. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis found that autocratic leadership was negatively associated with athlete satisfaction. In contrast, a positive relationship was found for the styles of training and guidance, democratic leadership, social support and positive feedback. The relationship between the coaches' leadership style and the athletes' satisfaction is underlined by the results of this research. The leadership style practised by the coach, with which the athletes are satisfied, achieves the desired goal of promoting quality education.